Royal Flush
by EpicJellyfish7
Summary: When the clock of Spades Kingdom mysteriously disappears, Spades threatens war with the other suits unless it is returned. Hoping to avoid another war between suits, the Queen of Spades calls for aid and receives an unlikely response in the form of Nations of the canon universe. Crappy summary is crappy. Cardtalia. No intended pairings; character death; rated T for my paranoia.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is my first published multi-chapter fic. As I said there will be character death because, well, war means casualties (most of the time). Also, I'm not writing in any of the accents because I can't and they can be annoying to read.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own Hetalia, Himaruya does. And I apologize if anyone else has come up with this idea because I haven't read one and do not intend to steal anyone's ideas. R&amp;R please!**

**Chapter 1: A New Threat**

Matthew, the Ace of Spades, sprinted through the halls of the lapis castle searching for the king, queen, anyone really, to deliver the news to. The terrible, horrible news. He just didn't see how it was possible, there was just no plausible explanation. Guards were stationed at all hours of the day, always watching. They were of the highest social status too, purebloods of ten. And yet, it had disappeared right from under their noses. Matthew continued his venture down the twisted, maze-like halls until finally catching a glimpse of royal blue coat out of the corner of his eye.

He very nearly skidded to a halt and doubled back to see none other than Alfred, King of Spades, talking adamantly with Yao, the Jack, about some trivial matter. At least, they had been until Matthew burst into the room, panting hard.

"Sirs t-there's been a-" He paused to catch his breath before continuing. "There's been a breach in security." The king and jack both stared at him incredulously, nearly shouting at him to elaborate. Spades Kingdom did not have breaches in security. Not with the upper hand in this land. Matthew finally composed himself enough to make a complete sentence and continued with an air of authority.

"The Timepiece had been stolen."

-Line Break-

To say the leaders of Spades took the news lightly would be a vast understatement. The second the king had confirmed with the guards and saw for himself the empty chamber that formerly housed the Timepiece, he immediately called for a lockdown on all roads and docks around the kingdom. If the perpetrator was still in Spades, he wasn't going to make it out alive.

Alfred, Yao, and Arthur stood around a map of their kingdom pouring over every possible escape route and ways to block the thief or thieves from escaping the land either into another suit kingdom or into unclaimed land altogether. After hearing no word from anyone along the borders in half a day, the three leaders began to panic.

Had they made it to free soil? Or were they still inside the borders waiting for the guard to drop and make an escape? None of them dared voice the question of treason, though they all knew it was a possibility, if history had anything to show by it.

"Arthur I think we need to look to other sources to find our thief. If the other kingdom's find out we no longer have the Timepiece, that is to say they don't already possess it, then they cannot be allowed to know. We may need to crack open the spell books for this one." Alfred said, with his chin in his hand. Arthur looked up at him in surprise, not often asked to perform magic, hell it was hardly condoned at all in the kingdom. Something about wanting to keep magic out of warfare, an unspoken agreement between the four suits, for however much longer it would last.

"And what if one of the others is the culprit? It is a very obvious possibility. What then?" Arthur asked, begging silently that he wouldn't-

"Then we threaten war against the other suits. Even without the Timepiece we are still superior in numbers and munitions. We send out an ultimatum: If the Timepiece is not returned in three days at sunset, we march on the offending suits, starting with that blasted Clubs." Not waiting for a response, Alfred left the war room to handle the politics and media before it could get any worse.

"He didn't consider that if no one coughs it up, we'd be either three against one or every suit for himself out there just like last time. I don't think we can make this unscathed without the Timepiece, Arthur." Yao said quietly, the worried undertone evident behind the calm words.

Arthur paused and looked over the map of the four suit kingdoms. "I'll give them one day to return it, if there is no change in status by this time tomorrow I will call for aid." He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself of the plan more than Yao, even nodding as he agreed with himself before leaving the room as well.

Yao stood alone over the map, sighing longingly. The king may not know it yet, he was rather young after all, but Yao had a feeling this was the calm before the storm, one that would not fail to claim lives.

-Line Break-

Arthur stood in his "workshop" as he liked to call it. Really it was a dungeon painted a light, baby blue with a window made by destroying two stone bricks near the ceiling. Crude it may be but the room had withstood many accidental explosions in its time. Littered on tables around him were dozens of spell books open to random pages and random spells as he tried to find anything that would aid his kingdom against the oncoming war.

And war would come, he was certain of that. His many years of serving as Queen of Spades showed him the true animosity between the four suits, if war was to be declared then it would be met with open arms by all suits, eager to obliterate their enemies and become the most powerful of the four kingdoms. All thanks to a gilded watch.

Finally stumbling upon one that would fit the situation and began gathering ingredients for the spell. It was a rather strange combination, using several rare items Arthur was very lucky to have on hand. A mixture had to be brewed and allowed to sit over night before the spell could be properly cast so making it now would allow for it to be used tomorrow, when the inevitable war drums would beat.

**Thank you for reading, I'll try to update once a week, every week. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A Call to Arms**

**A/N: Wow I did not expect that turnout for the first chapter. Screw seven days, I'm updating every six if I can. I try to PM everyone who reviews/faves/follows so thanks to the guest that reviewed last Wednesday. From here on out nation names are for the canon characters while human names are for the Cardverse characters. Also "Nation" (capital N) refers to the person, "nation" (lowercase) is the actual country.**

**Warning: Chapter 2 is my least favourite chapter thus far. I just don't like how I wrote it. But I swear better scenes are to come on Monday don't give up on me!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah I still don't own Hetalia and I'm still not intentionally stealing from anyone.**

Antonio, Ace of Diamonds, calmly but quickly walked up to the throne where the king and queen sat in their fiery castle.

He bowed ever so slightly before taking out a scroll and beginning to read, "This is a message to all suit kingdoms under the Cards Dominion: Return the Timepiece to its rightful place in Spades Kingdom in three days' time or we regret to inform you that we will declare war on the offending suit kingdom. Signed King Alfred of Spades Kingdom."

Antonio finished reading the ultimatum and looked up at the leaders of the Kingdom of Diamonds to find emotionless expressions. Francis, King of Diamonds, sighed and rested his head on his hand with a bored expression.

"So it appears our arrogant neighbor has misplaced his pocket watch. How unfortunate." Francis turned to the queen, Lili, who nodded without a word. "Well I regret to inform Alfred that Diamond Kingdom is not at fault here. We are innocent in this crime and, as much as I wish to crush those sapphire brutes, Diamonds will not be entering a four-way war based on clumsy superstition." Antonio nodded quickly and bowed once more before quickly exiting the throne room to relay their response.

Lili's timid voice broke through the silence. "What if they don't believe us? If they think we're lying and ransack the kingdom to find what we don't have-"

"I'm sure that _monsieur_ Alfred knows what he's doing; as much as I despise Spades, they know how to run their kingdom. I think he will be more inclined to believe us than say, Clubs and their…odd leaders. No one would want to waste extra men on a futile mission to search for something that isn't there. We'll just see how this plays out and will defend ourselves when necessary like always." Lili went back to silence before deciding to go find her brother Basch, Jack of Diamonds, and tell him of the war brewing in the north.

It certainly was rare for two siblings to be chosen to lead the kingdom, and at first the kingdom was not happy with the decision, seeing better choice in others more capable of handling the job. That is until those two siblings pitched in after their predecessors were killed in the war ended up bringing Diamonds out of the war relatively unscathed. Since then the quiet Lili and brooding Basch seemed perfectly capable to defend the kingdom against anyone, even the dreaded Heart Kingdom.

Lili found her brother in the quarry, absently staring at the assorted birds and not paying her any attention. She lightly cleared her throat and he turned to face her, scowl melting into a thin smile.

"_Halo,_ Lili. How are you today?"

"Spades threatened us with an ultimatum." She deadpanned. Better not to beat around the bush as they say. His eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger.

"Those bastards…" He muttered.

"What did you say big brother?" Lili asked, green eyes scanning his face curiously. He smiled a rare smile reserved exclusively for his sister.

"Nothing, Lili. What happened to cause this ultimatum of theirs?" Basch never wanted to be chosen as the new jack. But he and all citizens of the Cards Dominion knew that it was "destiny" and if you were chosen it was because you were meant to lead the kingdom. It wasn't that he didn't want the job and the additives that came with it, he didn't want to see his younger sister have to handle such a burden, especially when the only way out was death.

Lili explained the circumstances and skipped over to the birds in her creamy orange dress, the rays of sun almost making it look like flames licking up the fabric. Basch knew that while Spades was the most threatening Kingdom out there, the Kingdom of Hearts was the least trustworthy. He had only met their king once, in passing, but knew enough about him that he would at least think it through before declaring war. Right?

All this because of a gilded pocket watch.

-Line Break-

On the inside, Alfred was getting increasingly worried about this state of affairs. So far, both Clubs and Diamonds had sent a reply swearing they weren't the culprit and if his ace walking up to the throne with a scroll was anything to go by, Hearts would declare the same as the others.

"Sir, Ludwig of Hearts Kingdom regrets to inform you that neither he nor his people are at fault for the theft of the Timepiece and with the speed at which these responses returned, it is highly unlikely that they all conspired against us with this." Matthew said his small voice filled with confidence.

Alfred just shook his head. "So there is a very good chance that one of them is lying and is hoping another will be the scapegoat. I see how it is. Thank you, Matthew."

The ace nodded, "Your welcome, brother." With that he turned on his heel and left the throne room. Alfred quickly stood to find Arthur and Yao.

They had a war to win.

-Line Break-

"All three kingdoms claimed innocence?" Yao asked, debating whether to be proud of his prediction skills or afraid of this foreseen turn of events. "So does this mean we declare war on all three? Surely we can think of another, less deadly alternative."

"I think we should wait the extra two days in case any of them decide to come to their senses and fess up. We can begin preparing the military but we should not deploy until the three days are finished." Arthur suggested, his tone leaving little room for argument.

"Are you prepared for magic-enhanced warfare, Arthur?" Alfred asked, making the room go silent.

"I know you are new at this, Alfred but there is an unspoken rule that all four kingdoms abide by and that is leaving magic out of war. It adds instability and challenges the laws of physics. In layman's terms, it is unfair fighting. If we do not want to upset the delicate balance we currently have I suggest refraining from anything other than standard issue weaponry." Arthur responded, hoping their newly chosen superior would see the logic behind his reasoning. All he got was a long sigh of exasperation.

"Fine then, we'll wait. Is that aid you prepared ready?"

Arthur nodded in affirmation and took the hint to go summon whatever it was that could help them in the war. He wasn't the only mage in leadership ranks among the kingdoms, just the most skilled. Even Alfred could perform basic combat enchantments. He made his way to his workshop to begin the second half of the spell, praying it would not be in vain.

-Line Break-

There were times when America really hated being an immortal personified Nation. All the monotonous meetings, never ending fights, the responsibility of not letting politics collapse, keeping the secret-it was all a lot to handle for the world's superpower.

And then there were times he really loved being an immortal personified Nation. Like right now for instance when he could just relax and people watch. He stood leaning against a parking meter in downtown Manhattan just outside the UN building watching people go to and fro on their daily commutes.

New York City was an especially fun place when there were so many foreigners all the time and he could play a mini guessing game in his head over who was his and who was someone else's. There was still a good ten minutes before people started arriving and for once he was early. G8 plus-whatever meetings were always so much nicer when they were hosted on his side of the Atlantic for a number of reasons. One of them happened to be convenience.

Which is why he was so early today. Early enough to hear France and England arguing from a block away about God-knows-what. He just rolled his eyes and walked over to greet them.

"Iggy! And Francey-pants, how's it been across the pond?" He asked in a loud voice, flashing that obnoxious Hollywood smile.

"Git, don't call me that." England grumbled before shoving France's arm off his shoulder where it had not been a few seconds ago. England successfully annoyed. "Let's just get this blasted meeting over with so I can go home and have some much deserved rest." With that the British Nation shuffled up the stairs and into the building with American and France close behind.

"Ah, _rosbif_ seems a bit tenser than usual, _non_?" France asked as they entered the brightly lit meeting room.

America considered it for a moment before responding, "Yeah, Iggy's probably all upset that he had to fly all the way here for a meeting."

"Just be glad we have the commodity of flight. I couldn't imagine having to attend meetings by ship." France said exasperatedly, giving his wavy blonde hair a flip before sitting down.

After a while the others eventually showed up, others including Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, China, Romano, and…someone else America couldn't remember at the moment. As soon as everyone was seated Italy stood to begin his presentation, everyone silently pleading it would be worth listening to.

"Today we are discussing…" Italy paused for dramatic effect and everyone groaned inwardly, knowing what was coming next. Germany cleared his throat and glared at the Italian who pouted. "Foreign policy." He said, sighing as he attempted to get through a sure-to-be monotonous speech. The change in topics surprised the other Nations who actually listened to what he was saying this time.

That diplomatic peace lasted all of fifteen minutes when Italy ran out of things to say and began the all-too-familiar pasta speech. Everyone tuned everyone else out and began doing random activities to fill the time. That is until Italy abruptly stopped his speech and cocked his head.

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" He asked spinning around trying to pinpoint the location of whatever he was hearing.

"Hear what? Ita-" Germany cut himself off and copied Italy's actions now hearing the sound as well. Pretty quickly all the Nations could hear it: a quiet ringing that slowly grew louder and more pronounced with the passing time.

It got to the point where Italy was covering his ears along with France who was looking around wildly trying to find the source. Soon the ringing was unbearable and all the Nations were curled up trying to block out the painful sound. The room began to glow brightly, a big, white light.

In the next second the light disappeared, taking the ten Nations with it.

**A/N: So yeah, like I said, better scenes to come involving certain northern Nations and references within references. See ya Monday!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Inter-Dimensional Space-Time Continuum **

**A/N: So this one is mostly exposition. Apologies but it had to go somewhere although I think I got the Nations pretty in-character this time if I do say so myself (which includes witty and playful banter). Happy Monday.**

**Disclaimer: Can't I just put it at the first chapter and never do it again? I still don't own Hetalia.**

"Ve~, what happened?" Italy woke up in a field with the nine other Nations, none of them awake yet. He crawled over to Germany and began shaking him awake, receiving a response almost instantly in the form of azure blue eyes glaring at him. "Yay, Doitsu's awake! Where's Japan?" He stood and began searching the area for the Asian Nation while Germany grumbled under his breath about strange dreams.

The field looked like it lie fallow, plowed and ready for seeding. Neat, straight rows of dirt stretched on for yards in either direction, the soft, dark earth looking like very promising farmland.

Germany stood and, aside from the drastic change in location, he noticed just how humid the area was- definitely not the weather for February in New York. Italy, Japan, and China were all awake taking in the new surroundings. China said nothing, he looked simply and utterly confused. In a split second that confusion switched to anger and he smacked the still-unconscious England right next to him.

"This is all your fault!" He shouted, stirring the rest of the allies and making the Brit flinch awake.

"What? How is it my fault?" England yelled, clearly not pleased with the accusation.

"This was one of your crazy magic schemes isn't it? I knew I shouldn't trust westerners." China grumbled before standing and walking over to Japan.

"First of all, even if this was my doing why would I send myself here with all of you? And secondly, I don't know where the bloody hell we are!" Soon an argument erupted on the logic of England's claim and no one aside from a certain northern Nation noticed the young girl slowly walking toward them with a sack over her shoulder.

"Comrades," Russia said cheerfully, making the other Nations falter slightly, "I am thinking we have a visitor, _da_?" He asked, pointing to the girl who just noticed the ten people ruining the plow work in the field. As she got closer, the Nations took in her rather strange appearance.

She was dressed much like a peasant, with a rough cloth dress with several patches haphazardly sewn on and a bandana-type rag around her auburn hair. What really caught their attention was the various shades of blue ranging from baby blue to turquoise to almost Prussian blue. It stood out greatly against the green-brown grass behind her.

"Well what do we have here?" France asked in that oh-so-innocent tone of his, earning a scoff from England.

"Oh shut it, frog. Why don't we try asking her where-or perhaps when-we are, hmm?" England put on his best "gentleman" pose and calmly walked over to the girl who, upon seeing him, froze in shock and nearly dropped her sack.

Eyes wide, she asked him something too quiet for the others to hear but judging from his outraged yell, it wasn't nice. She quickly apologized and even bowed before rising and peering around him to see the others.

"Where do you think we are?" Japan asked quietly,

"Hey France, did your people ever bow to you before? Like in old medieval times?" America asked, earning a mixed response from his ally.

"Well, before we hid our secret from the world the military thought very highly of us but commoners were left out of the loop. Though I wouldn't say being transported back to feudal England is a good thing." France explained a hint of worry in his voice. England and the strange girl finally reached them and blatant fear overtook her features upon seeing almost everyone else. Her gaze shifted to fearful confusion at America and China and she quickly turned and ran back the way she came.

"Uh, dudes? Is that supposed to happen?"

"I don't think so." A quiet voice responded. Everyone spun around to see a blonde holding a polar bear amongst them. Saving the question from being voiced, "I'm Canada."

"Well she clearly recognized us. Knew me by name, almost." England was clearly nonplussed by whatever exchange they had but before he could voice that anger several men all clad in blue military uniforms were quickly making their way toward them.

"Doitsu!" Italy yelled, clinging to Germany's arm and waving a white flag. Seven guards in total, each with various numbers on their arms above a black insignia, surrounded them. The presumed leader, with a nine on his arm, stepped forward, raising his hand in a sign to lower weapons.

The others did as commanded but remained on edge as their commander stepped forward in front of China, who was closest to him.

"Sir Yao, are you alright?" He asked, China made a split second decision to play along and nodded. The man's brown eyes flickered to America before he called out a command and the other guards once again raised their spear-like weapons.

"Men, take these _impostors _and the conspirators to the castle. The king can decide what to do with them."

-Line Break-

"I've seen a lot in my years, but a blue dungeon is not on that list. Do these people have a blue fetish or something?" America complained loudly, his voice echoing off the stone walls.

"Shut up, git, and do something useful, like breaking the door down with that damned strength of yours." As if on command, the cell door opened and in walked three very familiar faces.

"Iggy are you sure this isn't your fault?" America stared at his blue-clad double who stared right back at him. The resemblance was uncanny, even more so than Canada, his twin. The double's gaze flickered over to Russia and his expression darkened.

"And just what is the leader of Clubs doing in my land? I had a feeling the thief was your kind but never dreamed it would be the king himself." Alfred's glare was reminiscent of the one America wore during the Cold War. He turned to France and Germany, giving them the same treatment. "All of you? Kingdoms finally agree to cooperate and this is what's to show of it?" England's double Arthur finally stepped forward and whispered something to his companion, whose expression morphed from anger to confusion.

"When I asked you to send for aid, duplicates- especially from rival kingdoms- are not what I had in mind." Though they looked identical, America could already tell they had very different personalities. At least on the outside. This version was far more serious and probably didn't have a hero complex and if he did it was hidden away. Alfred turned back to them, less anger and more skepticism now. "How did you come to be here?"

The Nations all watched the doppelgänger, baffled as to how they shared the same face. "Ve, there was this loud noise and a bright light and suddenly we were here. Amer- er. Wait. What do I call you?" Italy stepped forward and Alfred surprisingly stepped back.

"Erm, Alfred. This is Arthur and Yao. And you are?" China was surprised that both universes or dimensions or whatever this place was, used the same names, though he doubted these double were also personified nations.

"That's funny, we have the same names. I'm Italy. Is there another Feliciano here then?"

"He would be the Jack of Hearts Kingdom." Yao supplied, raising more questions than answers.

"Wait, Hearts as in the cards suit? Are there kingdoms for each one?" America asked stepping forward.

Alfred nodded, "In this part of the world yes, the four suit kingdoms make up the former Cards Dominion. Welcome to Spades." Suddenly the insignias on the soldiers' arms made sense, each wore the symbol of their kingdom- a black spade. Feliciano's title now made sense as well. Now raised the question of who took the other eleven face cards.

"You said you called for aid." Germany prompted, immediately the blue-clad trio darkened. Alfred smiled and effortlessly changed the subject.

"Why don't we get you out of this dungeon and we'll have a little history lesson?"

-Line Break-

Ten Nations and three face cards stood in the now slightly cramped war room where a massive floor-to ceiling world map was boldly painted covering the entire expanse of the wall. Geographically, it was identical to the world they knew but politically…everything was vastly different. First off, none of the nations ever known to man seemed to exist. It also seemed that the entire world ran off games.

Alfred, noticing the wide eyes and gaping mouths, chuckled and began explaining. He started with the Americas, more precisely central America, "Okay judging from your expressions I am assuming your world is different from ours?"

"Uh, yeah dude. I, like, don't exist here!" America cried as if the mere thought of the great US of A not existing was blasphemy.

"Ah, a world without America. I can't imagine." England said dreamily.

"_Angleterre,_ you are the reason he exists." France deadpanned, receiving a hateful glare from his frienemy. The blue trio shared a glance before shrugging it off and planning to ask later.

"Now then," Alfred said, regaining the room's focus. "Each of the four suit kingdoms is ruled by three people of different ranks, a king, queen and jack. Below them is the ace and then common citizens."

"So it's a three-tiered monarchy?" England asked and Alfred shook his head.

"Not exactly, other dominions have monarchies but they lie to the east. Cards has three nearly-equal leaders at a time."

"So like my government. A democracy. I have an executive branch with the president, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch that run my country." America offered, glad that there weren't quite kings ruling part of his land.

"So who does that make you?" Romano asked, still livid about this whole thing.

"Yao here is our jack, Arthur is the queen, and I am the king." Forget about monarchies, America's doppelgänger is a king? Hell no.

"Hold up a sec." Said offended country interrupted, "You're telling me that the double of me, the United States of America, is a freaking _king_? That breaks the laws of nature!"

"_Fredka_, you would be surprised how many of your leaders turn your government into an oligarchy. Some even a dictatorship." Russia said, easily getting under his skin.

"Shut it commie bastard. No one asked you."

Arthur cleared his throat loudly, stopping the fight before it started as he pointed to the northeastern part of South America including the chain of islands just to the north of it. "This region is the Kingdom of Hearts, ruled by Ludwig, Kiku, and Feliciano in descending order." Germany's face reddened at the cruel poetic justice. Of course there was a kingdom of Axis. Would no one ever let him off the hook?

Arthur moved to the adjacent kingdom, covering north western South America and up to Costa Rica on the map. "This is the Kingdom of Diamonds, ruled by Francis, Lili, and Basch." Both England and Arthur rolled their eyes at the mention of the Frenchman and all Nations frowned at the odd trio.

"Switzy? Really? That must be a dysfunctional government." America said with a few nods of agreement from the others.

"Diamond typically stays out of conflicts not beneficial to them. They are also the wealthiest of the four." Alfred said, which made a lot of sense considering. He then moved to the next kingdom comprising of Mexico, the southern half of Texas and Jamaica. "Here is Clubs." Arthur said with an edge of anger. "Ruled by Ivan, Elizabeta, and Roderich. Oh I forgot the aces: Lovino for Hearts-" Romano gave an indignant cry in the back ground. "-Antonio for Diamonds, and Natalya for Clubs." Terror flashed across Russia's eyes in a second. Arthur then pointed to the southeastern United States expanding to New Mexico and the Ohio River also including the rest of the Caribbean Islands. "And then you have Spades, our ace is Matthew." No one heard it but Canada gave a small yell of glee at his status in this world.

"Over in the east there is the Empire of Chess," all of Europe and Turkey, "Domino Federation," the entirety of Africa though most of it was shaded in. "Kingdom of Backgammon," the Middle East, "and Draughts Republic" taking up China, India, Mongolia, Nepal, a small section of Russia, and south to the tip of Indonesia.

"What are all the gray areas?" Japan asked, noticing a large percentage of the map lay unlabeled, including his own land.

"Unclaimed land. We're not much for expansion especially into the arctic regions."

"You know there's a huge amount of gold over there." America pointed to California, which was also gray. "I mean, it sure helped me and it looks like no one's explored over there much."

"Well I'll be sure to take that into consideration… America was it?" It still felt weird to see a mirror image of oneself not know who the other is. Alfred motioned for Yao to take over.

"Before the four kingdoms were created, there was the Cards Dominion, which was founded to escape oppression from Chess. This was hundreds of years ago. Upon landing here the original settlers discovered a great mystical power in the form of a great clock. It granted the dominion power, luck, wealth, and prosperity. Until a civil war happened between the north and the south over the Timepiece and Cards Dominion was divided into two kingdoms, Black and Red respectively.

"The Black Dominion controlled the Timepiece and kept it from the Red Dominion. A few centuries later history repeated itself and the Black Dominion split in half due to the greed of the West, now known as Clubs. Selfish lust drove the Red Dominion to collapse as well into Hearts and Diamonds and we have been warring kingdoms ever since.

"Spades, up until yesterday, held the power of the Timepiece. We became superior in every way and it was thanks to the Great Clock that we are the superior kingdom. Now we have reason to believe it is at the fault of one of the other three kingdoms and if it is not returned to us in less than two days now war will break out more volatile than ever."

There was silence as the familiar history1 sank in. They had landed in a war zone. One that had been feuding for centuries. And now they had to act as peace keepers?

"With all due respect, why must Spades have this Timepiece? Why can't another kingdom take it?" Germany asked, causing eyebrows to rise in surprise.

"Spades has always possessed the Timepiece, even before the separation of kingdoms. Among other things it is rightfully ours for the taking. Though custody is not the main issue here." Alfred said, threatening Germany to go against his word.

"Without the Timepiece, we four kingdoms are nearly evenly matched. Spades has an only slightly superior military-and only just-due to our possession. Yesterday we received word from all three kingdoms that none of them possess it. If by some minuscule possibility they speak the truth, we will enter a four way war with no superior force and will end up fighting until the last man standing. There must be a superior power or we will simultaneously annihilate each other and raze the kingdoms to the ground." Yao explained, fingering the sword that hung at his side as he spoke. The whole room went silent as the new information sunk in. It seemed war really was inevitable.

"Why are we here?" China asked finally.

"Yesterday we issued an ultimatum threatening war unless the Timepiece was restored. That was in anticipation one would come forward to gloat over their success. We did not expect that response but cannot go back on our word. Either we start the war with the other three or the other three start a war with us."

"The last bloody time a nation issued an ultimatum it caused the second deadliest war in our history2. Are you absolutely sure diplomacy won't work? What if this culprit is a third party member from one of the other lands entirely? Placing the blame on one of you to initiate a war." England placed his hands on the table, positioning himself like the military man he was during much of the twentieth century. The room seemed to chill at the possibility of a third party candidate. Logically it made sense.

Too much sense.

"Because of our separation from the rest of the world, no other kingdoms know of the Timepiece's existence. Hearts Kingdom tried to contact Chess for support in an earlier war but we refused to let them, none of us wanting another kingdom to fight." Arthur's words sounded strangely reminiscent of another war not too long ago where a land in the Americas failed to gain European support. And another instance where Europe nearly failed to gain American support. The histories were frighteningly similar3.

"You'd be surprised just how often a nation can make an unprecedented move. Even if the motivation is sketchy." America said, both he and Japan subtly inching away from each other4.

"Well then what do you suggest we do? It takes weeks to get from here to just Chess and we need an answer tomorrow. And if we do evade the time barrier that would mean not only alerting the other kingdoms that are currently unaware of its existence as well as creating more enemies should the decide to take it for themselves." Alfred was getting increasingly more frustrated with every roadblock they hit.

"We could ask the jokers." Matthew suggested from the doorway.

"I really doubt they could be of any assistance to us. For all we know they bloody stole if for themselves." Arthur grumbled, choosing to glare at the map and not meet anyone's eyes.

"Who are these 'jokers'?" France asked, returning the conversation from its tangent.

"They used to be the elites of the Red and Black Dominions but after the fall of their lands now only two remain, the former two aces, Gilbert of Black and Peter of Red. They have no suit affiliation." Yao said, also not agreeing with the idea.

"Wait, Peter? As in the short blonde kid with my accent and ego bigger than Asia? _That _Peter?" England looked utterly outraged at the idea of Sealand accomplishing anything.

"You know the brat?" Arthur asked a look of anger and pity on his face.

"In our world he is probably the single most annoying wanker on the face of the Earth. And he's not even a real country!" England missed the grin from America, pleased that his former mentor thought so highly of him.

"They could have taken it, we don't know. But they still might have information that we need for the sake of all suits." It was hard to strike down an idea when it made sense, it really was. Even if it was a waste of time and sanity, they had no leads and the jokers were nomads.

"They are like trolls: whatever information they may or may not have will come at a price. Knowing them it won't be cheap. Con artists they are. I'm glad there's only two left in existence." Arthur defended weakly, sighing when no one defended him.

"I'll go make the offering." He said, dejectedly shuffling out of the room.

**A/N: If I made any mistakes, and I don't think I did aside from maybe grammar, feel free to tell me.**

**Footnotes:**

**1: At least the first part was referring to the American Civil War.**

**2: Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia in retaliation for killing their archduke Ferdinand and his wife. Alliances dictated everyone join in on the fun and World War I began.**

**3: In the American Civil War the Confederates were desperate for European aid to gain their freedom. Britain and France would have helped in order to protect their cotton empire but when the south lost at Antietam, Europe gave up on them. In WWI just as Russia was pulling out to fix their destroyed country (Russian Revolution), America declared war on Germany for unrestricted submarine warfare and the threat of Mexico allying with them with the Zimmerman note. Which, if you think about it, was just Britain getting desperate and setting the poor Germans up to face the wrath of gun-crazy Americans. Though ill-prepared we raised morale and helped them win the war. And in WWII… well they would have died if it wasn't for us. At least the hero complex is somewhat justified.**

**4: No one (except one American) really expected Japan to attack us. Big, Scary America was a daunting opponent at the time so when Pearl Harbor happened… In a way, Japan was kind of the downfall of the Axis, once again due to those pesky alliances. Japan didn't expect America to complete the Manhattan Project and obliterate civilian populations in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Who would? No one in war is without sin.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm**

**A/N: It's annoying that superscript doesn't transfer with the rest of the text. I'm sorry this one is so short! Really each chapter is 1k or higher but this one is shorter than the last one. Also I'm finally a beta reader! (I think) I completed the profile stuff and clicked "active" so yeah, if anyone wants me to beta their story I'd be glad to do so (as long as it meets the listed criteria). If you think anyone, especially America, is out of character read my profile for explanation, these notes are long enough and my reasoning applies to every fic I have.**

**Still don't own Hetalia**

Somehow, the Nations missed the part that Alfred was capable of performing magic. It just never came up really, until he and Arthur both worked together on summoning one of the jokers. And the whole time that was going on all America could think about was a man appearing with green hair, a purple suit, and a crooked smile. Could you blame him?

And another thing, there were things in this game universe that had yet to be explained. Were the face cards immortal like the Nations, or were they human? It had been implied that whoever these jokers were, they were alive back when the Red and Black Dominions were around, so at least a few hundred years ago. Either they were descendants of the only survivors or they were immortal. In the end it seemed Prussia just couldn't catch a break with representing fallen kingdoms.

That just made him even more awesome, and dramatic apparently. Because as soon as the summoning ritual was complete a red smoke exploded in the center of the throne room and in the center stood Gilbert, Joker of the Black Dominion.

He wore a smoky gray, almost black blazer with matching pants and a red shirt underneath. He appeared to have devil horns and a tail, though they might have been for show this land was capable of magic so he might very well be a demon-esque figure.

"You know, just because you summon me does not mean I have to show up, so this better be good, I was er… busy. So what do you _dummkopfs_ want?" The scratchy, arrogant, German-accented voice fit its owner perfectly, even if the little horn-like protrusions looked kind of cute.

Arthur rolled his eyes, looking like he hated his life, before continuing. "What do you know about the missing Timepiece?" He said, efficiently cutting to the chase. Gilbert's devilish grin widened in response.

"Ah… so that's what this is about. Well I know a lot of things about that little trinket. I know what it can do, who possesses- or sorry _possessed_ it, and where it could be. You have to be a bit more specific than that, Queenie." Gilbert showed no fear, even in the face of very powerful people who were not in the joking mood, even had the gall to laugh that _kesesese_ sound of his.

"We are well aware of the first two," Arthur said through gritted teeth. "We would like to know where it went or at the very least who took it."

Gilbert showed a sudden interest in his finger nails and with another poof of red a pitch black staff appeared in his hands which he proceeded to lean on. "Well I can tell you that the culprit isn't that hard to figure out, but I require payment first." He sang the last line, knowing they would be willing to pay a lot for information.

"What do you want in payment for information on the thief?" Alfred asked, quickly taking over before Arthur could blow a fuse.

"_Tsk, tsk._ Are you sure such a young king should be handling treasury affairs? I knew your predecessor you know; he was really good with savings." Gilbert chuckled at Alfred's sneer and twirled his staff before answering. "What do I want as payment. Hmmm… that's a tricky one."

"We know you already have an idea in mind, we're running out of time here with no help from your filibustering." Yao growled.

Gilbert shrugged. "Actually you're out of time, seeing as your precious clock is gone. So technically time is running out of you. However, you caught me. Chips. And a lot of 'em. Oh and passage through the great Spades without harassment from soldiers."

Alfred crossed his arms, eyes narrowing, "How much?" Gilbert's blood red eyes seemed to glow brighter with glee.

"Ten thousand."

"Absolutely not!" Arthur screeched. Gilbert shrugged and renewed interest in his fingernails.

"You need me more than I need you, as a con artist one must know how to scam easy prey. Compared to that horrid Jack of Diamonds you are like stealing from a tree."

After watching the whole exchange for a while, Germany finally stepped forward. "How about information in return for information?" He offered, piquing the demon's interest.

"And who do we have here? Is it Ludwig or his doppelgänger that I'm speaking to?" Gilbert sauntered over to Germany and looked him over, nodding in response to his own question.

"I come from a world where your doppelgänger is very well known to me. You hand over information on the whereabouts of the Timepiece and I'll tell you anything you wish to know of your double." Gilbert stepped back and spun in a slow circle, pondering the deal on both ends. After a while of random haphazard spinning, the joker finally responded.

"Very well, Germany, I accept. And I will hold you to your word." Both Germans shook on it and Gilbert skipped back over to the face cards. "Now then. Here's your information. Not one of the other three suit kingdoms is at fault for the theft. Rumor has it some Chessmen had a hand in its disappearance and with their ancient magic it's not surprising if they are behind it after all. However, if they are, there's a new player in this game of war, one none of you want to face." Gilbert erupted into a cloud of red smoke and something fluttered to the ground in his place.

Arthur picked up the black joker card and handed it to Germany. "He is nothing if not dramatic. Here, it is a reminder of your debt to him, once you're ready to talk he'll come to collect the card and information." Germany nodded and pocketed the card, the weight feeling heavier than it should have been.

"So what now?" America asked the one thing on everyone's mind.

"Well, the other kingdoms know we no longer pose a significant threat and won't hesitate to mobilize against us either allied with each other or from all different directions. They come with a vengeance over centuries of inferiority to us. If we don't find the Timepiece Spades will fall. Of that I am certain." Yao said, effectively ruining the mood in the throne room.

"It sounds to me that a trip to Europe is on the horizon. Whether its name is France or not it is still my land and I would be glad to see it." France said, obviously volunteering himself for the task. The trio looked like they wanted to ask what this "Europe" was but decided against it.

"Wait, we're forgetting the one advantage we still have in this war." Alfred said, gesturing to the gathered Nations. "For a moment even Gilbert was fooled by Ludwig's double. Why not use the illusion we have against them? The entire Hearts leadership as well as our own is standing in our castle, or at least that's what it looks like. We also have the Kings of Clubs and Diamonds at our beck and call. I think it's safe to assume we share more than just appearances."

"What are you implying?" Arthur asked and Alfred grinned.

"I say we send America, England, and China on the mission posing as us. The Chessmen are bound to know what we look like if they really are behind this and sending the three rulers of Spades off to the Chess Empire as a decoy will fool the other kingdoms and give us leverage in foreign territory while we stay here and fend off the invaders behind closed doors." Twelve heads nodded slowly as they caught on to the plan.

"Would it not be wise to send Matthew's double as well? The ace of any suit is powerful on their own." Yao suggested and all heads turned to Canada once again who smiled, happy to be of service.

"What about France, Germany and Russia?" England asked, motioning to the three Nations. "If we're talking about fooling rival kingdoms why not take it a step further into espionage? If Spades really needs to win this war then send those three acting as their respective counterparts into the heart of the enemy. Battle strategy, secrets of each kingdom, and trust most of all would be ready for the taking. And if the people start doubting their king's loyalties well… I must say citizens are very effective in ousting unwanted rulers1." Alfred clapped a hand on his shoulder, grinning wildly.

"I like this one. He has good plans." Yet another difference between America and Alfred: neither would ever openly compliment the other so nonchalantly. It was a thing of pride. "Let's give them a good night's rest and send them off tomorrow, hopefully before the drums of war reach our ears."

-Line Break-

"You know, I can't remember the stars back home ever looking this magnificent." America walked up behind Alfred who leaned against his balcony overlooking the kingdom of Spades down below. They hadn't figured out what time period it was here, maybe an alternate dimension where instead of technology they excelled in the supernatural? Regardless the absence of light pollution made the sky take on an ethereal glow.

Billions of stars of all different colors dotted the inky black expanse, glittering endlessly regardless of day or night. Even the Milky Way was visible, a dark stripe arcing diagonally across the sky.

"So tell me, America, what is your world like?" Alfred didn't turn to face him, just stared ahead at the little lights down below the stars making his blue coat turn purple. America decided to join him at the balcony, half trying to figure out just where in relation to his land this castle would be.

"In a lot of ways, it's very similar to yours. We're always fighting, sometimes over the stupidest things too. Back where I come from the others and I aren't normal humans." At this Alfred arched an eyebrow; they had yet to discuss the Nations beyond names. "We personify the lands we live on. Literally, national personifications of the land, the people, ideology, anything that makes our land unique to us. And when we fight, sometimes it hits home in a less literal sense because we've known our enemies for centuries, millennia for a few of us.

"But there's a lot of good in our world too. We've come a long way as a species through innovation, discovery, always outdoing our predecessors. Just a few decades ago man finally set foot on the moon. The moon! Talk to anyone who doesn't know and they'd call you crazy for even thinking it possible."

Alfred smirked before turning away and frowning. It didn't go unnoticed. "Here in our land we could never dream of visiting the moon. Our world has little of this 'technology' you speak of. Though we do have people that live for centuries. At least in the Cards Dominion, each kingdom must always have three rulers and an ace. However the people do not choose these rulers, nor are the positions a birthright. Take Spades for example," Alfred turned his back on his kingdom, leaning back against the stone railing to talk with his hands.

"Each role is chosen by the kingdom itself, no one has control over it and if you are chosen you play the role you are assigned until death. With that role comes the gift of timeless age. It's not immortality, we are as fragile as humans. It is simply a life that never grows older." Alfred looked down at his hands, examining them as if they had changed between now and the last time he saw them.

"We are immortal. We live as long as our nations do and some even beyond that. Prussia, our Gilbert, his nation was dissolved after a war by me and my allies yet he still lives as the eastern half of his brother's land. The same goes for Romano, or Lovino, he and his brother's lands were reunified into one country yet both are still alive and kicking."

The sound of footsteps alerted both Americans to the doorway where England appeared. "America we're having a discussion about tomorrow down in the guest quarters, you're needed." America's trademark smile plastered itself onto his face and he slouched ever so slightly.

"Yeah thanks, Iggy, I'll be down in a sec. The hero needs to talk with his double." England rolled his eyes but left the balcony and the goofy grin disappeared along with the slouch. Alfred watched the subtle transformation and dared to ask him about it.

"Why do you do that?" America cocked his head in confusion so Alfred elaborated. "Act like that around him and the others."

The Nation turned back to the city below and sighed. "Because I have to. We all do it too, wear a mask. It's to protect ourselves. I know how they feel about me and my attitude but if they didn't pass it off as being 'ignorant to the atmosphere' or 'just the stupid hero complex' they wouldn't treat me or my land the same way and we all need that barrier in our lives for more than just that. I'm only 237 years old officially and by Nation standards, that's very young. And yet here I am as the world's super power. Sometimes it's just easier to hide behind ignorance."

Alfred pondered the new information, slowly seeing how it all made sense in a way. Maybe it was like that for Nations but in his world, kings held no masks, they just told it as it was. And Alfred expressed that to him.

**Footnotes:**

**Thank you for 195 views, 5 reviews, and 7 follows. Keep up the trend!**

**1\. Just... French history. Louis the... fifteenth? Sixteenth? I can't remember at the moment but those guys loved ousting their rulers with either a mob or a guillotine. The English too, something about jumping out castle windows to avoid being killed. And the Russians. We just kind of protest and complain until they're annoyed out of office (Nixon).**

**There's really nothing else historical here unless I need to explain the German and Italian unifications in 1871 and 1875 (I'm pretty sure those dates are right. All these facts are from memory). Oh and filibustering can be defined as the American form of government.**

**In case you didn't figure it out: Chips, as in poker chips, are the currency of that area. Can you figure out who Alfred's predecessor was? Who else caught by FMA reference? See ya Saturday.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter** **5: Games We Play**

**A/N: So tomorrow morning I'm leaving early for a two day camping trip and instead of making you wait until Monday afternoon for this I'm giving it to you a day early. But next chapter will be Friday again. To my beta- one name change, sorries. And I still don't own Hetalia or any of the characters (even if Scotland is barely canon anyway). Special shout out to Este Savoy for a very nice review back on Tuesday. I'm so happy there's so little about Cardverse that's canon. Give's me a ton of liberties with my characters (yes, you should be concerned). Hey guess what? I figured out line breaks!**

"If you're going to be standing in for us, you have to look the part." It wasn't enough that they were duplicates that shared the same voice and roughly the same personality. No, wardrobe had to match as well and that meant discarding the other-worldly suits they had arrived in for the characteristic Spades Blue.

The whole ordeal reminded America of when England bought him a suit and told him he would not be seen in public with him if he continued to dress improperly1. Not the fondest memory of childhood but a memory nonetheless. Both times he complained about its abnormality.

"Am I this annoying to the others all the time? If that is the case I pity them."

"Dude, quit talkin' like that. America, no matter which version, shouldn't be so uptight." Alfred sighed and sat down on the stained glass window sill.

"Well _this_ version is going to have to be an exception. I have people who look up to me to lead them against the other kingdoms. Being 'uptight' is the only option I have." America turned to him, crossing his arms.

"You ever hear that phrase 'it's better to be feared than loved'? Cause it's not true. Trust me I had a very unloving king when I was younger, and fearing him only got me my own nation and his empire collapsed2. People trust someone they love more than someone they fear to lead them to victory. Try, I don't know, letting loose once in a while, showing your people you know how to have fun. Fear is unpredictable, random. They never know what's gonna happen next with a tyrant controlling them."

"I am not a tyrant and if you remember it was love that split Cards in the first place. Fear of being destroyed is what keeps the other kingdoms at bay." America threw up his hands and shrugged, giving up on the argument. Trying to convince yourself to do something was almost harder than convincing someone else and America was nothing if not stubborn.

"Dude, whatever. Now about your taste in style…" He held out the deep blue overcoat like it was poison and grudgingly put it on. "What's with all the blue? Not that it's a bad color but red is just as good."

"Like the spade blue is my kingdom's symbol. Red is Hearts-"

"Of course it is."

"-Orange is Diamonds and green is _Clubs_." The way he said the name, like it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Considering who ruled the other Black kingdom, America could imagine betrayal, bloody conflicts, and long-standing rivalries, so he didn't press for information. Instead he inspected his temporary wardrobe without another word.

* * *

"From this port it takes about eight weeks with good weather to reach Chess. So we've added a few enchantments to lessen the gap. The_ Rummy_ is the fastest ship in our arsenal but even with the added speed it should still take a week minimum before you see land. It is the best we can do on short notice." Yao admired the privateer ship like it was his prized possession and for all they knew it might be. Even as he talked his eyes seemed to glisten with pride at the magnificent, dark-sailed vessel. He, Arthur, and Alfred all wore simple commoner clothing while China, England, and America wore the ritzy attire of the face cards, adding to the illusion that the royals were evacuating the kingdom.

"I can't say I'm disappointed to set foot on another pirate ship." England mused, a distant look in his eyes.

"Ohonhon, _Angleterre,_ the dreaded pirate Captain Arthur Kirkland. I'm glad I'm staying here." France chided, earning a punch to the arm from the Brit.

"So when are you bastards sending us home?" Romano yelled from the back, fidgeting in the deep blue coat of Spades Kingdom Italy somehow convinced him to wear. Arthur blanched at his language while the Nations just rolled their eyes, despite agreeing with his question.

"The earliest would be when they return from Chess. That way I can send you all at once." Romano cursed something about stupid British bastards before returning to Italy's side. Before Arthur could introduce the crew Matthew came forward, trunk in hand.

"I think it best to send someone who knows this world along with them to Chess don't you? The others won't know I'm gone."

Arthur looked to Alfred who shrugged in response. "It does make sense. Fine, Matthew you are allowed to accompany them, just please don't get yourself killed, we can't be replacing the best ace in the history of Spades mid-war." Matthew smiled and rushed a thank you.

"I think four immortal Nations and a crew of our best sailors can protect me just fine." Arthur smirked and waved the crew forward, a very familiar redhead in the lead.

"Scotland?!" England yelled in a mix of shock, anger, and annoyance. "Don't tell me he's the captain." He crossed his arms and glared at the emerald-eyed redhead who frowned in response.

"Allistor is one of our top navy captains and a distant cousin of mine. Whatever quarrels you may have with his counterpart are null and void here." Seeing England's clone effectively shut up England himself was a rather hilarious sight. Even more so when said Nation's face reddened in embarrassing defeat.

Arthur proceeded to introduce the rest of the small, six-man crew who did several double takes at the doubles of their world leaders. They received a quick explanation before loading up the ship with the precious cargo. Twenty minutes later the_ Rummy_ left port in Spades for its journey to Chess.

* * *

After everyone had settled in, America and both Canadas sharing a cabin and England and China bunking together, Captain Allistor came down to officially greet them.

"King Alfred-"

"Dude, first of all that title still pisses me off and second, call me America." Allistor earned a sympathetic look from Canada and Matthew and quickly corrected himself.

"Apologies, America. I suggest you and the rest of your party stay below deck until we enter Open Ocean. Rival navy ships currently swarm these waters and it would be best that we pass off as nothing more than a Spades vessel." The three nodded in agreement and Allistor headed back on deck.

"I remember when Iggy took me on his ship when I was little." America started, flopping down on his bunk. Canada knew the story but Matthew listened with interest on his bunk. "It was supposed to be from Boston down to Charleston, teaching me about how the ship worked and the mercantile trade routes and stuff. We ended up running into Spain-our Antonio-halfway there. He was on an unfamiliar ship and took us by surprise.

"Iggy's ship-God, I can't remember the name now-took it hard, barely making it to port. Spain's ship didn't make it." Though the city names were unfamiliar, Matthew could picture the scene in his mind. Imagining quiet Antonio attacking Arthur in a naval battle was a bit far-fetched in this world. It made him wonder just how different their worlds really were.

"Is there anything like Cards in your world?" He asked, Canada taking his turn to talk.

"There are a few kingdoms still around in our world but none as big as these. Almost all the land in our world is occupied by people too; we don't have vast expanses of unclaimed wilderness anymore." Canada went on to explain the different countries and general information about a few of them. America left the cabin to find the other Nations, Canada, and Matthew sitting across from each other in mirrored positions. Literally.

"Aiyah, how did we get roped into this mess?" China's muffled voice complained through their cabin door. America didn't bother knocking and just jumped into the conversation.

"I don't know it just somehow fell into place like this. Even in peacetime the Nations of Earth cannot avoid war." England scoffed at his own remark, lying down on his bunk.

"Well would you have denied them help if you had a choice?" America asked, sitting across from China and leaning against the wall.

"Maybe I would have." England muttered darkly. "I mean, we have a warring region of our own to deal with and look how involvement turned out. It doesn't seem that even if Spades gets their precious advantage back it will solve anything. So what if they return to superiority? The other three will still fight them until they just can't take it anymore. It won't ever get better for them. Maybe annihilating each other is the solution."

America shot up and stared at him. "How could you say that? There are millions of innocent lives at stake!"

"Don't you think I know that? All I'm saying is that they're caught between a rock and a hard place just going around in circles. A variable must be changed to remove the deadlock."

"They should reunify into one kingdom and move the Timepiece to the center." China said, earning a scoff from America.

"That's like saying we'll move Jerusalem to the center of the Middle East so all the countries can share it. Even if it works for a while someone will make a power play eventually3."

"What a mess."

* * *

"King Ivan, sir. One of our spies reported something I think you'll find interesting." Natalya, Ace of Clubs, entered the throne room of Clubs Castle where her distant uncle sat quietly on the throne. At his wave to continue Natalya relayed the information.

"It appears the royalty of Spades along with their ace boarded a military ship early this morning and sailed around the peninsula headed north. The castle is considered to be vacant and vulnerable."

An imperceptible smirk flitted across Ivan's face before reverting to its placid form. "What of the progress of Hearts and Diamonds?"

"Hearts began mobilization late last night; Diamonds remains neutral as of this moment." Natalya fingered the hem of her emerald dress, picking at the black club border on the neckline. Ivan knew Francis was up to something, he was always scheming in that creamsicle castle of his.

The smirk returned, "Prepare the southern fleet for siege of Isle Maid. We attack at dawn." Natalya nodded and ran to find Roderich, as the jack controlled the military of any suit.

Ivan returned to isolation, chuckling manically. "Let the Game of War begin."

**Footnotes:**

**1: Hetalia episodes of America's storage room cleaning (love it, have the OST on my iPod).**

**2: British King George III during American colonial days. "Benign neglect" as they say. Of course they had some justification taxing them for the war they fought for them but we didn't see it that way so America probably has very biased opinions (for everything). In reality the taxes back then were half as much as the lowest tax here today... Well, time to amass the armies and storm the capitol again. For those of you who don't know, the war wasn't really fought over taxes or tea or anything. It was the consequence of a bunch of things most notably misrepresentation- or lack-thereof- in Parliament and the fact that after months of trying to be diplomatic gentlemen we said "to Hell with it" and ended up in the gamble of our lives.**

**3: American logic. This one's pretty self explanatory but a reference nonetheless.**

**Gotta feel bad for Iggy, his own brother tried to separate from him last year with a vote of all things. Red v. Blue once again. With all due respect, they probably wouldn't have lasted on their own, from a third party perspective. How many more game puns can I make before you guys are sick of 'em? You know you love them. See ya Friday! (Okay I'm not going to ask this a bunch of times but I would really love some more reviews)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:** **A Red Dawn**

**A/N: Um, I don't own ****_Pirates of the Caribbean_**** either (the fourth movie wouldn't have happened if I did.) Get ready for some socioeconomics! Speaking of, class choices were completely random (you'll see what I mean) so don't get all fussy with me. Oh and beta, another name change. Announcement: I recently created a poll (99% sure it worked) for this fic. Trust me, you should check it out.**

No matter how cool _Pirates of the Caribbean_ made it look, America was really starting to hate sailing. He was from the era of steamships, speed boats, planes, jets, and his beloved automobile. These slow moving hunks of wood were getting on his nerves. How England could stand a century of it, he had no idea.

The glorious age of technology also included Google maps and GPS, unlike this seemingly never advancing dimension he'd been thrown into. The enchantments on the ship also made it harder for him to pinpoint exactly where in the world they were at the moment, the closest he could get was somewhere in the Atlantic. Joy.

At least the company was good. Over the past three days at sea Matthew had explained some of the politics and society of the Cards kingdoms. Aside from joint leadership each society was designed as a caste system of sorts based on numerical order of cards two through ten.

Families of the ten, nine, and eight denomination were like the nobility or aristocracy and also provided the best of the military. Seven, six, and five were the wealthy business owners and entrepreneurs, five being more of the former. Four and three were the middle-class workers and small market shopkeepers. Two were the lower-class farmers and peasants, also the largest class by population due to larger families.

What was most interesting was the choosing of the royals. Class denomination had no meaning to whatever higher power chose the next rulers; it was based on the individuals alone. If they were deemed worthy at the time they became the chosen ones and took over for the fallen face card. Though it seemed some families were luckier than others.

Alfred and Matthew were brothers of class four, chosen three years apart after the former King and Ace of Spades went down in a naval battle and land ambush in the last war almost four decades ago. In the same war the Queen and Jack of Diamonds were assassinated and the siblings Basch and Lili were chosen to replace them, both class three.

Feliciano had taken over for his predecessor nearly a century ago as a nine and his grand-nephew Lovino stepped up as a six after a fire took the life of the Ace of Hearts. Ivan and Natalya were distant cousins chosen nearly eighty years apart as a two and five respectively.

Another annoying thing about this universe was the lack of communication between continents. The Dominion of Cards had gone off the grid after its founders fled Chess and contact was once in a blue moon between them. Apparently, early on they had the triangular trade network set up, minus the slavery of the Middle Passage, but after the suit kingdoms separated all trade was cut off, everything was home grown or produced in local factories, no kingdom outsourced to anyone1.

Currently, the _Rummy_ was somewhere in the Atlantic and a red dawn was breaking. A brilliant, fiery red dawn that drew every soul aboard the ship on deck to gaze at. The swollen ball of fire slowly crawled into the sky, tinting the clouds a rainbow of colors from purple to pink to yellow.

Three days in and blood had already been shed. They hadn't even made it to Chess, not halfway there, and people already died in the war to end all wars in the West. England leaned against the railing, the sun making a silhouette of his blue-clad form. Canada decided to join him, slouching against the wooden railing lazily. The crew was already up and making their rounds, quiet conversation going on in the background.

"You know, there's one thing about this that just doesn't add up." The Brit started, breaking the silence between them. His former colony turned to him, waiting for elaboration. "Why now? I mean, according to Matthew there is almost no contact with Europe or anyone, so why would this Chessmen Empire decided to steal their prized possession now of all times? What motivated them to do it in the first place?"

"Maybe they never really broke communications, they just let Cards think they did and kept spies there watching. Maybe they knew all they needed was for someone to strike a match and let the pieces fall where they will. Then they'd come once the initial carnage ended and decimate the remaining forces, taking Cards for themselves." Canada suggested, the morbid possibility made England frown. Canada wasn't one for pessimism, and the thought was unsettling.

"Canada?" Now more than ever it was nearly impossible to tell who was who with the North America brothers. There really were two Canadas plus their twin America all on one ship. Said Nation looked up at him in acknowledgement, proving that he really was talking to the one and only Canadian Nation. "Just making sure."

"It's just a thought.-"

"No, that's not what I meant. That is a very real possibility, and it doesn't make our job any easier. That would mean the Chessmen know we're- they're- coming. Whoever they are, they'll be expecting us. And if they're anything like the Europe we know-"

"Then our job just got a whole lot harder." Canada finished, eyes wide. "What if we don't make it back before they kill each other?"

England turned back to the expanse of ocean before him, eyes longing, "I don't know lad. I don't know."

* * *

Gotta love the smell of napalm in the morning. At least, you can love it when you stand miles away watching the mushroom cloud rise into the sky and are not running for your non-immortal life on an island just invaded the day before at dawn by very scary ships with emerald green flags fluttering ominously in the sea breeze.

If Isle Maid existed in the normal universe, it would take the place of Cuba. Isle Maid stood as a strategic port for Spades in defending against naval attacks by Clubs as most of their major ports lie in the southern parts of the kingdom. Gin, taking the place of Jamaica, was Clubs' key port against Spades.

Much like another certain island, Isle Maid thought an attack on them from Gin was suicide, and thus they stayed well protected from a southern attack. And much like another certain island, Isle Maid was taken completely by surprise by the largest naval attack force ever to leave the Port of Gin and the western city of Kingston had been burning for over twenty four hours now2.

Half the fleet in Kingston lie at the bottom of the harbor while another quarter slowly sank into the depths behind their fellow vessels. All at the hands of Clubs military. Reinforcements from the eastern ports were already on the scene but the damage had been done before the sun reached its apex the day before.

Isle Maid was in utter chaos and the rest of Spades would soon follow. As the navy attacked strategic ports in the South, club-crested armies crossed the dividing border between the belligerent kingdoms in the West. Yao furiously deployed all naval assets to the west and south, half the fleet creating a blockade around the Florida peninsula where the capital was located while the rest met green banners off the shore of Kingston.

Little did Clubs know that Hearts began its own attack after gaining passage through Diamond waters in the far south. Diamonds maintained its neutrality up to this point, only allowing guarded passage to Hearts navy while staying out of the fighting for as long as possible. With any luck, the three warring kingdoms would simultaneously decimate each other and Diamonds would be left the spoils.

Unbeknownst to all but Spades, small entourages would be arriving on their shores soon enough with a weapon more volatile than gunpowder could ever be: A means to threaten the relationship between king and country.

France arrived with a small group of Spades Special Forces on the shores of the Kingdom of Diamonds. Dusk was just setting in and made the optimal cover for the classic French coup d'état he was planning3. The four members of the party each arrived in the orange clothing of the land of Diamonds, all but one looking utterly disgusted at the thought of wearing such treasonous colors. The party slowly began their trek north into the heart of the kingdom.

Germany, Italy, Romano, and Japan all arrived late into the night in the Kingdom of Hearts, having to take a wide arcing route with no other option available. Their group leader held a rough map of the kingdom in his crimson-gloved hands as they too began their journey up to the scarlet castle on a hill.

Russia had yet to leave the confines of Spades yet, as trying to escape into enemy territory undetected was proving very difficult indeed. Entry by sea was out of the question but the only other passage in was all the way around the northern border of Clubs to the mountain range on the other side. That pass would take days to reach by horseback and though they had a train it would be too suspicious. They just had to wait for a window to open.

Alfred, Arthur, and Yao had not set foot outside the castle walls since seeing the Nations off to Chess. Fear of spies jeopardizing the whole plan kept them behind closed doors and without Matthew to run interference they were nearly blind. Arthur's cousin Dylan, a commander in the Spades army, was the only go-between they had for at least another two days. Long enough for Russia to make it to Clubs and for everyone to get rooted into rival governments before the doubles were revealed. That is if no one decided to put two and two together.

If Spades had a personification, he or she would likely be bedridden at this point. The royals were doing the best they could with what they had but morale was low after word of the missing Timepiece spread through the kingdom. Nothing like a war to invoke national pride though, even if the odds were against them. For the first time ever, citizens from all across the kingdom of every social level were pouring into the enlistment offices pledging servitude in what many saw as the final voyage of war for all suit kingdoms4.

It made the royals prideful of their citizens but also made them realize just how devastating this war could turn out to be if the Timepiece was not returned.

Nothing like imminent death to make you feel alive.

* * *

"They attacked civilians. Not a single soldier in a seven mile radius and they attacked civilians. Those bastards!"

_They_ being Clubs infantry and _civilians_ being the small town of Alcade west of Spades River-or the Mississippi, take your pick. It had been a massacre and gave the advantage to no one. Clubs just wanted to kill civilians to make the point that they could, and would.

Yao could not take the isolation any longer and he didn't care who noticed he was still in Spades. As head of the military he had a job to do and that job was protecting his subordinates as well as his people. Sitting in a castle for the sake of illusion was not worth the hundreds of lives being lost by the day. Which is why he stood with Dylan among the cavalry ranks preparing to liberate Alcade and prevent a single green soul from crossing the river. Past that daunting obstacle was just flat land and village straight up to the heart of the kingdom.

They were losing. Bad. Diamond forces had yet to rear their ugly head but day-long naval battles and invasions from the west were enough to handle, too much it seemed. All they needed was one victory. Just one and spirits would rise. Stand-stills and impasses were not cutting it and Spades was running out of ships. Boats could only be built so fast, regardless of what time period it was.

It had been four days since the _Rummy_ headed for Chess, four days since the war began, and they needed a miracle. Now. Otherwise there wouldn't be a four-way war for much longer. The Timepiece was a handicap; Spades' greatest strength was inevitably their greatest weakness. The other three kingdoms had danced to the beat of the war drums for centuries without it and their experience was showing. After being dragged down to their level, Spades was at a complete and utter loss on what to do in foreign territory in both warfare and geography.

Though, they still had an ace up their sleeve. Technically two aces, four kings, two queens, and two jacks. Russia had finally managed to slip through a gap in Club defenses and was hopefully wreaking havoc in the kingdom. At least it seemed that way, because the western cavalry would have been crushed without Russia's intervention in delaying the troops.

As such, they were still hilariously outmatched. The sun was just beginning to set on the shores of Spades River and not a single green uniform was in sight. Either a trap or the lucky break they'd been so desperate for. Unfortunately it was probably the former.

Along the entire river inside Spade territory, there were a total of seven bridges. Burning said bridges or bombing said bridges was not high on the popularity list of either kingdom. It prevented forces from either side crossing to either side.

But something had to be done to prevent the fall of the larger cities. So down they went, all but one right where the cavalry was stationed. They could always build new ones. It was a funnel system really, simple yet effective. Horses and large weaponry could not cross the river unassisted, meaning they had to cross the bridge or else they wouldn't cross at all. So waiting on the other side was an attack force ready and willing to slaughter anyone or thing that stepped foot on the cobblestone pathway.

Yao, much to his chagrin, could not stay at the riverbank for long. Other battles and other lives were at stake elsewhere and his military knowledge and strategy was needed. Ah, the perks of not aging.

He rode alone back to the castle, still undercover in an eight-banded uniform. His horse moved swiftly and steadily through the night, the only sounds were the animal's hooves pounding into the gravel road. While on the silent ride, Yao had time to think about their apparent allies from another world and one question kept resurfacing no matter how far he shoved it away:

Can they really be trusted?

What stopped Ivan from turning on Spades and siding with his doppelgänger? Or any of their spies in other kingdoms? Even the group headed east, what made them loyal to Spades? If their attitudes were anything to go by these Nations rarely got along with each other and yet here they were all fighting for the same side.

Why?

Was it because it was Spades that called for aid and not another kingdom? What if Hearts had summoned them? Would America, England, China, and Canada ruthlessly undermine their doubles as the others currently did for loyalty's sake?

Or was it something else entirely? Maybe they all, for once, wanted to fight as allies instead of adversaries. Or they thought siding with the historical victor would win the war faster and send them home.

Yao sighed and shook his head, once again shoving the thoughts aside. Paranoia only served as an obstacle, especially in war. The second you begin questioning your allies is the second you sign yourself to failure.

The brunette road onwards into the night, running straight forward into more bloodshed.

**Footnotes:**

**1: Back when you were either an empire or feudal farmers, Western Europe, Africa, and America/ the Caribbean all did this thing called triangular trade going around in a loop in the order listed above. The Middle Passage was the journey from Africa to America for slave ships.**

**2: Pearl Harbor, explained a few chapters ago. Taken completely by surprise and lots of people died not just in the initial attack but from drowning in the sinking ships. I applaud Japan for coming up with that scheme, even if it really wasn't worth it in the end. Though it wasn't battleship v. battleship. More like completely overwhelming air raid.**

**3: Napoleon basically came to power by promising the French an amazing empire in the midst of their bloody revolution (which kinda happened because of ours). He did so by secretly toppling the government from the inside. But most people know him for being short (he really wasn't), his epic failure in Russia, and Waterloo in 1815. **

**4\. In WWI, or the Great War, everyone and their cat was signing up for the war that would last "Only a couple of weeks". No, people didn't think it was "The End" but still. Propaganda was still everywhere but in places like England people were dropping everything to enlist. War really does invoke nationalism and patriotism, or it invokes traitorous ideas and threats against humanity. Take your pick.**

**This isn't labeled merely because I didn't know where to put the superscript. "Red Dawn" (not the movie) is a disambiguation used for the foreshadowing of something bad that's about to happen. It's been used tons in literature and movies as symbolism, I just think it sounds cool and really works, especially in this setting. Though there's also tons of different ways to say it, some are weirder than others. Look it up if you don't believe me. Thanks again for continued support guys!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Shifting Alliances**

**A/N: Guess what guys? Here comes the only chapter with italicized thoughts! This is currently the second longest at over 3k. Enjoy the length, cause I don't think the next one will be this generous. Also to my beta: Yeah so the scene in here I had to change because it was too OOC and overly dramatic. Sorries. Keep in mind just how much catastrophe can happen in only a few days worth of people slaughtering each other. I may not be accurate in my depiction but I think I'm pretty dang close to realistic.**

China remembered when playing cards were invented. They were so expensive back then; only the wealthy could afford to play. Now a pack was a dollar at a gas station. Oh, how times have changed. It seemed times in this game-verse he was currently trapped in did not change very much at all. From what Matthew had described over the six days on board, it wasn't exactly Eighteenth Century living like they'd assumed.

By all appearances it seemed they were stuck during the days of the British Empire but a closer examination revealed subtle differences. Mainly the military and wars fought over the centuries. Twentieth Century warfare had not appeared yet but tactics and strategy mirrored that of current military maneuvers, most thought impossible to imagine during this time period. It was certainly a strange place.

The water had progressively gotten colder as the days went by, signaling they were nearing European waters and would hopefully make landfall within the next thirty-six hours. China couldn't say he was exactly glad to be back on a sailing ship. That era was filled with the rapidly encroaching west on his people and culture. Not exactly the best of times for Asia back then1.

China wondered how things at home were going without them. It was a G8 summit after all and all the important representatives would not be- _could_ not be found. Maybe World War III erupted and everyone was dead. He merely shrugged off the thought and continued to stare out over the familiar waters.

"Did you know Yao is the oldest royal in the entire Cards landmass?" Matthew's silent approach made him jump but the young blonde didn't notice. "The Jack of Spades is the only one to survive four wars. He's around oh, something like six hundred. If Spades has any hope of winning the war while we're away it's through him." China couldn't help cracking a smile at that.

"I'm far older than him then." He took the ace's silence as a wish for elaboration. "I'm somewhere around four thousand years old." The smile returned as did a chuckle at Matthew's bug-eyed expression. Even on the precipice of war one had to enjoy the little things.

"Four- four _thousand_?! What- how- huh?" Even in utter shock he maintained that soft tone of his. Must be a gift.

"My nation has lasted that long without changing like the westerners. Unlike Greece, Egypt, and Italy my nation has no separation between ancient and modern, at least not as severe2. They all disappeared along with their empires, leaving children or grandchildren as heirs to the throne, so to speak."

"I've been thinking about that." A new voice said behind them, effectively cutting off whatever Matthew was going to say next. America continued after a moment of silence. "The entire royal lineup for all the suit kingdoms is filled with doubles of us right? No matter if they're human or not they all managed to be alive during this time."

"What are you blathering on about now, America?" The party was officially complete as England and Canada climbed up on deck to join them. America turned is back to the ocean and spoke again.

"Well, it's safe to assume that whoever leads this Chess Empire will be doubles as well." He got slow nods in return as they tried following his train of thought. "The ancients are probably here too right? Maybe in their own empire or something."

"Britannia…" England mumbled, caterpillar eyebrows disappearing under messy blonde bangs.

"The oldest land in existence would be the Kingdom of Backgammon. They're usually neutral in conflicts so their leaders could be hundreds of years old." Matthew supplied, not following the new train of thought.

"How- where is Backgammon located again?" The gears inside the Brit's head were spinning wildly, already forming a haphazard plan. Matthew ran back down below deck, saying he'd brought a map.

"Being in this land reminded me of my colonial days and… my mom…" America trailed off, a distant look in his and Canada's eyes as the fate of Native America invaded his mind. He had single-handedly killed his own mother and his conscience never let him forget it3. There were no amends to make from three hundred years of slow extermination. No possible way he could ever atone to those sins to her because in his world, she was dead. But here…

He was the United States of America and if there was a will there was always a way.

Matthew returned with the map and England all but ripped it from his grasp. "Iraq. The Middle East. It's not too far out of the way and we'll still have plenty of-"

"Wait." Matthew's voice was a mix of confusion, suspicion, and disbelief. "You're not seriously thinking of _detouring_ to _Backgammon_ with millions of lives at stake are you?! We don't have time to go anywhere but Chess and needed to be back _yesterday_." America, Canada, and England all looked down sheepishly at the deck, realizing the death toll their selfish needs would cause.

_It's not fair!_ America thought. _I'm always stuck doing the bidding of someone above me. Whether it be my boss, my people, or even _them_, can't I be selfish just once? Me, not America the Nation, Alfred F. Jones. The human_. Apparently he wasn't the best at hiding that sentiment because both England and Canada saw right through the façade.

All three wanted to see Nations long past. How many more times would they get that opportunity? Here they were sailing right past it. The silence that followed was enough to ruin the mood on the entire deck. Two crew members previously loosening the sails stopped and stared at them even though they didn't know what was going on.

"We... we can't deviate from our mission." England said finally, looking as though the words came unbidden as a deep betrayal to the one who spoke them. "Our task is to find the Timepiece and return it to Spades to end this bloody war before anyone else has to die." His expression darkened and he refused to meet anyone's eyes. "There's no room to be selfish." His voice cracked as he spoke, struggling with the hard truth of it all. What he wouldn't give to see his mother again. She just up and disappeared one day, leaving him to live with the most dysfunctional family in Europe, alone. Even if she wasn't the real Britannia, something would be better than a cold case.

America looked utterly heartbroken before something in his posture changed and he once again became the Nation, putting all human desires in the dark corners of his mind.

"Then let's finish this damn war already." He declared bitterly, turning back to face the ocean where somewhere in the distance lie the coast of Chess.

_I will see you again, mother. Just you wait._

* * *

Seven Days. A single week and already the navies of Clubs and Spades were hanging on by a thread. Clubs fought a war on two fronts with Hearts attacking viciously from the south, still making no moves against Spades itself4. Diamonds remained locked up tight, not even flinching when a red-decorated fleet passed within two hundred yards of its shoreline.

Or at least that's what every non-Diamond assumed. In reality they were slowly counting down the hours until the opportune time to swoop in and take their adversaries by storm. France had quickly nestled in to the wonderful game of espionage and was in the process of gathering statistical information on just how prepared Diamonds was for taking on three kingdoms at once.

The frustrating part of it all was that he had to play chicken with the guards and his doppelgänger. Get close, back away, get close, back away. Life would be so much simpler if he could just replace Francis completely, but trying to sneak out information while playing king 24/7 would raise too many suspicions and possibly jeopardize the entire mission.

France sauntered his way down one of many cobblestone roads bordered by orange banners and diamonds emblazoned on every surface like a "made in China" sticker. He wore a deep orange, almost brown cloak over a light yellow casual suit used to "blend in". In reality he was searching for new fashion trends while on his way to pass on much needed information to Spades through the Special Forces still hiding out amongst the citizens.

Leaving the coded envelope in the designated pickup area, France headed back to the small cottage he'd been living in for the past week. A little makeup and change in hairstyle made him less recognizable. Or at least enough to pass off as a foreigner trying to escape the war.

"France, you're back!" A young voice yelled with glee as the blonde entered the cottage of the family he currently stayed with. They were a nice couple of five-class with a six year old daughter who'd instantly taken a liking to him. The wife had found him "struggling" to find his way around town and had taken pity on the "lost traveler" and allowed him temporary refuge in their home until he got on his feet. The best people always had the rottenest luck. Harboring a treasonous inter-dimensional immortal personification of France was not high on the "most legal" list of activities to partake in.

He smiled warmly at her, "Hello, little one. How was your day?"

She grinned wildly, one of her front teeth missing from that smile. "Mommy took me to the harbor and we saw a bunch of ships go by all with red flags and stuff." Ah, red ships have come5.

There was something off about the deployment of that navy. They only seemed to be targeting ships flying Club colors, leaving blue ships suspiciously alone. He would have to talk with one of the former Axis to find out whatever Hearts was planning.

* * *

Never let it be said that Japan didn't find Italy annoying. He simply refused to show that emotion to anyone. Normally this was a simple task. That was when there was only _one_ Italy Veneziano and _one _Italy Romano, not two.

Having four personifications running around was slowly driving Japan insane. What made it worse was that two of them were royals. How Italy of all people got put in charge of his kingdom's military, Japan had no idea. If this was some "mysterious force" calling the shots then they must have been drunk when they chose Italy as Jack of Hearts.

Take this for example, straight from the horse's mouth: Hearts wasn't attacking any Spades regiments because, "Ivan is scary and I'd rather fight with Spades against him then see him in charge." And that was actually a good point; it was just the manner in which Feliciano planned to go about achieving it.

He didn't plan on telling Alfred at all because, "He is scary too!" And decided to just let them figure it out on their own. If only Kiku and Feliciano had switched ranks…

With that in mind Japan was making his way west toward the border with Diamonds to get in touch with France about Feli's… brash plan.

"_Bonjour _Japan! How's the war going on your end?" France appeared out of the foliage dressed in that creamsicle orange of Diamonds. Japan inwardly groaned at the mention of the current bane of his existence.

"I am fine, France-san. I came to deliver information on Hearts' military."

"…and? _Mon dieu_, Japan, you look ready to kill someone." Of all people, why did he have to be with France right now? Despite his often aloof appearance he could read someone like a book, even silent Japan.

"It is nothing. Feliciano plans to somehow ally with Spades against Clubs because, as one would say, Alfred is the lesser of two evils in reference to the four kings. Ludwig thinks, and my counterpart agrees, that though Spades does not deserve the power of the Timepiece, Clubs deserves it even less. They know they won't defeat either of them without an ally but Feliciano refuses to tell Spades of their plan."

France arched his eyebrows and sighed. "Of course not. Well it sounds like either you need to convince him otherwise or have Italy do it for him. I'm surprised Ludwig hasn't done it himself."

"Ludwig believes an effort to create an alliance has already been sent and is just waiting for a response. He is getting agitated waiting for word that won't come. Romano thinks he should take over completely for Lovino and explain the situation without interference- anything to end this faster so he can go home."

France crossed his arms and nodded, thinking over the plan and any possible repercussions. "I think he should. They need to tell Alfred soon or there won't be a Spades to ally with. While you have your diplomacy issues I have mine. Francis wishes to let them all kill each other and take the spoils."

A flash of confusion disappeared behind his calm façade, "Is it really a bad thing if there is one less kingdom fighting the others?"

"Diamonds is the wealthiest of the four suits, they have that name for a reason you know. They are making the others think they're weak to slip in quietly right at the end. If Diamonds enters this war when they plan to it will drag on for far longer than it needs to. I can only do so much without Lichtenstein, Switzerland, and Spain here to help me." Japan had forgotten that France was completely alone in this. Both Spades and Hearts had all four doubles present.

"Russia is alone as well. If you cannot convince them not to enter the war then at least keep them from aligning with Ivan. Russia is on our side for now but we know how easily his goals can shift6."

The possibility of Russia and America going at each other once again made them both shudder involuntarily. Even if nukes weren't in play they were still volatile adversaries. No, this fragile alliance had to stay alive7.

"It took a four-way war in another dimension to make us finally work together to create world peace. Isn't that just sad?" France chuckled darkly at his own words. "The bitter irony of it all. Germany and England, America and Russia, all working together for the first time in history and we aren't even in our own world."

"It is nice though. Maybe we can recreate it back home someday." Japan said and France nodded in agreement before turning back to the way he came.

"_Au revoir, Japon._ Maybe that dream will someday be a reality."

* * *

The Nations, as the human versions, were surprisingly easy to capture. They just didn't have the war-weary experience their immortal counterparts had. And that was how they'd managed to swap Lovino with Romano in less than twenty minutes.

"Lovino, I have something for you." Italy said, coming up behind his brother's doppelgänger. The brunette turned to face him and was met with a cloth covered in sweet-smelling chloroform. The shock on his face quickly melted away as he passed out and collapsed against the Nation. Ah, the glory of homemade anesthetics.

"You're not _fratello_." Italy said in his flippant voice as he dragged the ace away. They always underestimated him… their mistake. In the hallway he met Germany and Romano who wore an identical outfit to his double and was whisper-yelling at the German.

"I know how to act as myself, potato bastard!"

"Ve~ you two should stop fighting now. Lovino doesn't fight with Ludwig." Yes, the impossible became possible. Without the centuries of hatred between them, Lovino and Ludwig were more than amicable with each other. It was definitely a strange sight when the four Nations had initially arrived.

"Shut up, Veneziano, and tell me what he was doing." Romano growled. Italy didn't bat an eye.

"He was on his way to deliver this to Ludwig. I don't know what it is." Italy handed him a sealed envelope and he quickly walked away to complete the task, leaving his brother and Germany to deal with his unconscious double.

"Hey Luddy, do you think he can use magic?" Italy knelt down and played with Lovino's limp hand. "Cause I know Alfred can and America can't."

Germany was silent, mulling over their slight oversight. "Well if he can then we'll have to hope Romano never gets put into a position where he has to. Now come, the ship will be leaving soon." He hefted up the unconscious Italian and began carrying him to the stables.

After Japan's talk with France they had decided to dispatch Lovino and send him to Spades under the guard of their royals while Romano took over for him and slowly convinced the royals of Hearts to align with Spades legitimately.

It was a short walk to the stables and luckily no guards were around. Seeing their king and jack kidnapping their ace was sure to raise some questions. After they had saddled up it was a ten minute ride to the harbor. The plan was going perfectly.

The harbor glistened peacefully in the moonlight. One of the last ports where you couldn't see flaming ships or hear canon fire echoing in the distance. A lone ferry floated silently moored to the docks, if one looked close enough they could see the cerulean-trimmed navy uniforms of the sailors residing inside.

Upon hearing the two sets of hooves against the wooden docks one of the sailors came out to greet them, momentarily forgetting they were Nations and not royals. Nevertheless he bowed quickly and handed Germany a letter sealed with royal blue wax.

"This is from King Alfred and Jack Yao with regards to the alliance between the two kingdoms." They traded the letter for Lovino and dragged the poor ace below deck for the short trip to foreign territory, where he would remain for the foreseeable future.

The ship quickly departed and the two Nations returned to the small house that may or may not have been occupied before their arrival. Hey, all's fair in love and war.

Especially in the Kingdom of Hearts.

**Footnotes:**

**1: So Asia had been like, "I am a loner" up until oh, 1860-ish. Or at least that's when the Americans started sailing over. Hetalia's episode "Black Ships have Come" highlights that. Britain, Hong Kong, and the Opium Wars were also around that general time period.**

**2: I really have no idea why there isn't an Ancient China like the western nations. That's just a guess.**

**3: It's (Not technically) my head canon that Native America existed as a personification. Manifest Destiny kept screwing over the tribes since before we were a nation. Though reservations still exist here and there "Native America" just doesn't exist anymore, we bulldozed over her without thinking twice committing genocide and wreaking havoc across the land. No one says it but here we are calling the kettle black. But where there is a will there is a way with the Americans, and how many conflicts have we lost to date? **

**4: I would say this is a World War II reference but it's really nothing specific. The Nazi Regime did create a war on two fronts, but that also happened ****_to_**** Germany in WWI (and in '44 when Hitler started loosing really, really bad. The Soviet Union pwned from the east (causing tons of Germans to come running to the west to get captured by Americans instead of Russians) and America, England, France (and Canada) pwned from the West.**

**5: Direct reference to "Black Ships Have Come".**

**6: The Russian military is notorious for having secret alliances, gray-zone backup plans, and disregard for any allies if the war wasn't going in their favor. For instance earlier I explained how they abandoned the Allies in WWI to go fix their government. The Crimean War (the 18..50? version) was somehow justified by Russia needing to "protect poor Slavs in the area" which meant a full scale invasion just for a Mediterranean port. I think. Like I said this is all from memory.**

**7: Once again self-explanatory that it's the Cold War but I just love the idea of Russia and America teaming up for anything in modern times. Epic plot twist that a lot of fics sadly don't have. Not RussAme, but the world's superpowers aligning together to defeat a common enemy. I wish there were more out there with it. (I sense the birth of a plot bunny...)**

**Did you know there are a ton of Brits that still hate the Germans? Did anyone catch my PJO reference? Does anyone else think we should petition Crayola and demand that "Prussian Blue" be reinstated as an official crayon color instead of it's replacement "Midnight Blue"?**

**Danke for reading! See ya Wednesday!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: A Four-Way War**

**A/N: For some reason I feel like last chapter was kind of a let down... Anyway up ahead is one of my favorite scenes I've written thus far. I'm so excited you guys finally get to read it. (Also we return to the departed company at sea) And as per request- the numbers are distinguished now. Though someone should tell the website to allow superscript...**

Seven and a half days after leaving Spades, land was finally spotted in the hazy distance.

"Hey dudes, Europe is huge. What if their capital is in like, Russia or something? Do you know how long it's gonna take to get there over land?" After land had been sighted every soul aboard the _Rummy_ dropped whatever they had been doing and run to the bow of the ship. They could just make out other ships docked in a bustling harbor, a city in the distance.

"Well I think it's safe to assume this isn't the British Isles. It's too warm and sunny." England huffed, shifting his weight. "If the entire continent is under the Chess Empire, there's probably more than one capital. And since this is chess, there's likely to be two royal lineages of Black and White like chess pieces. We have arrived in the most war-like Empire on this Earth. Cheers."

Captain Allistor came up behind them and cleared his throat. "If the location has not changed in the past seven hundred years, and we are where I think we are, the closest major city is Carthage governed by the Black Knight."

"Carthage?! As in Tunisia? Of all the bloody cities to make port…" England trailed off, mumbling about horrible circumstances and the rest slowly turned back to the confused captain.(1)

"Er, no. The cities may share the same name but I doubt they share anything else. Here," He pulled out a map and pointed to a location in southwestern France. "This is our Carthage. But we'll have to reaffirm our location once we make port, assuming they don't kill us on sight." He talked so nonchalantly about the possibility of imminent death and didn't notice when the five passengers paled.

"That didn't really answer my question…" America said, now slightly worried about the near future.

"I'm more worried about which doubles are here." Canada said, heard loud and clear.

"Well we will find out in a few short moments." China said as the distance between them and land quickly shrank. Two escort ships appeared beside them, flying white flags with black chess knights emblazoned on them. The _Rummy_ slowed so whoever it was could safely board her and soon the deck was filled with black-clad sailors. One stepped forward to greet Captain Allistor.

"State your business and where you're sailing from." The man ordered in monotone.

"We hail from the Kingdom of Spades in the far west on a diplomatic mission with the Black Knight." It wasn't completely a lie, they did come to speak with whoever ran the place but diplomacy wasn't high on the major list of concerns. Allistor showed him the sealed letter of introduction from Alfred and he nodded. This guy- Captain Czesław apparently- seemed to buy their story as he and his men cleared the ship to escort them the rest of the way to port._(2)_

"Well, since we're all still standing, they probably won't kill us." Allistor chirped, returning to the wheel.

"This guy and Scotland are so different it's scary." America muttered to no one in particular. Departing from the ship was a bit slow, even for China as everyone struggled with solid ground. Canada chose to pull up the hood on his Prussian blue cloak and let Matthew play diplomat for a while. The four Nations, ace, and Captain left the rest of the crew to explore the city, to which they were especially grateful for.

Czesław returned and led the party to two covered carriages, telling them they were heading to the train that would take them to Carthage. Canada, England, and China went in one carriage while America, Matthew and Allistor took the other along with Captain Czesław up front with the driver.

"So how do we plan on going about this? I don't think we can walk in there and start accusing them of theft." America asked and received no response. The brilliant minds of the entire crew of a ship did not think of a plan for getting them to admit to stealing a priceless artifact nor who to accuse in the first place.

"We, ah, we…" Matthew stuttered over a blank response before Allistor took over.

"Let's just see who the Black Knight is, maybe it's someone you know. A friend, maybe? Then we can go from there." The carriage stopped and the door opened letting in harsh sunlight. A bustling train station stood beside them, looking more like an ancient cathedral than anything else. No matter what dimension it was in, Europe managed to outdo everyone in architecture.

"I'm taking bets on who this Black Knight is. I'm thinking Turkey. Any takers?" America walked side by side with Canada as they all filed into the train northbound for Carthage, so far no one had offered anything to his bet.

"My money's on Egypt." England said.

"Why him?" Canada asked as they took their seats.

"I don't know. Just seems like a fitting position for him I guess."

Canada shrugged. "Alright then." The train began its short trek, hopefully bringing the Nations closer to a culprit as well as their treasure.

* * *

Russia wasn't certain this blonde was Natalya. There was just no way. She was obedient, she was cordial, and most of all she never once uttered the desire for him to marry her. Maybe he could quietly switch her with Belarus when they eventually went home…

That was a plan for another time. For now Russia had one goal in mind: Getting rid of his psychotic doppelgänger. Now people called Russia insane, crazy, off-his-rocker, and he was. Just not this much. Ivan was a different level of insane. He wasn't violent, wasn't constantly looking for something to crush with his pipe, he was simply insane. Ivan had the idea that defeating Spades meant decimating every square inch of their land with a toothbrush.

Now Russia had done some horrible things in his past, the stuff of nightmares' nightmares, but even he knew this had to be stopped. It wasn't just Spades' land that he wanted to burn. Every single blue-clad soul had to burn with it. And as of two days ago, Hearts joined them on his list.

Russia didn't know what Spades possibly could have done to deserve that fate but no one in his world had ever wanted to go that far and people in his world had done some terrible things. It made him wonder just how on this Earth Ivan had been chosen as King of Clubs. Did something happen to him during his reign that created this drastic shift in ideology? _Democracy_ didn't pick leaders this bad. Well wait, that claim might not be _entirely_ true.

As much as he wanted to, and as easy as it would be, Russia could not kill the personification of his darkest moments. Because that's what this Ivan was to him, and the reason why he remained allied with Alfred and the others. Two World Wars and a Cold War taught him what would come out a Clubs victory. Russia's demon had to go.

Which is why he was currently skulking around the castle, Mr. Pipe in hand, looking for the bastard. No, he couldn't kill him. Because the second he did someone else would take his place and ruin everything. Though _alive_ is an ambiguous term.

It was late, near midnight in the kingdom-no one would be up and about. Even royalty needed sleep during wartime, especially when said royalty was winning. The northern Nation quietly crept into Ivan's room and stood over his bed like an ax murderer. If their positions had been reversed, Russia would have been on his feet at the flap of a butterfly wing.

'Twas a shame Ivan didn't share his acute paranoia. Well, for him at least. Russia poked his head with the head of the faucet and he stirred slowly, violet eyes blinking sleepily in the darkness.

Russia smiled, "_Добрый вечер, господин корольь._" (3)

Finally Russia got to play hero.

* * *

Lovino wasn't happy. Who would be when they wake up chained to a stone wall in a dungeon? His head and wrists hurt like crazy and he was thankful for the minimal light in the dungeon. The room he was in was maybe a ten foot square with a high ceiling and small windows near the top, like a basement. He was completely alone. The only sounds were his ragged breathing and jingle of the chains.

His memory was fuzzy, like his brain decided to take a week vacation without telling him. Feli… Uncle Feliciano. The letter. _Fratello_. It was all slowly coming back to him now. He pulled against the chains with every ounce of strength he had, which wasn't much given the circumstances of his arrival, but the shackles didn't budge.

Something like keys jangling made him freeze and he turned to face the cast iron door on the opposite side of the room. Said door slowly creaked open revealing torchlight- no just fire- suspended over someone's gloved hand. The hand belonged to a messy blonde with the biggest eyebrows. Upon recognizing him, Lovino's breathing hitched, more confused than afraid.

"What- what's going on? The alliance, I thought Spades was going to ally with us? Feliciano sent word to Alfred did he not? What happened?" Lovino panicked, assuming the worst: Spades had declined and turned on the unsuspecting Hearts.

Arthur stepped forward and knelt down in front of him, one arm resting on his leg while the other held the flame aloft. He wasn't smiling, didn't have an expression of triumph or glee. In fact he looked pained.

"Lovino calm down." He said, tossing the fire ball into the air where it hovered above them, casting harsh shadows on both of their faces. He held up a set of rough iron keys. "Just let me explain and I will unshackle you, please?" The desperate look on his face made Lovino falter and nod slowly in understanding.

"Alfred signed the deal; Spades is now allied with Hearts against Clubs for the foreseeable future. We are on the same side."

Lovino glanced around the room and at his wrists. "Then why-"

Arthur sighed, cutting him off. "We were desperate, running out of time and we needed Feliciano to officially notify us of your offered alliance and he wasn't delivering fast enough. As the ace you were the easiest of the four to replace to convince Feliciano and Ludwig to speed up the process."

"What do you mean 'replace'?"

"What do you remember of last night's attack?" Arthur said, abruptly changing subjects and slightly annoying the Italian. He gave him the information anyway.

"I was on my way to deliver a message to Ludwig when Uncle Feli, or at least… I _assumed_ it was Feli came up behind me. He said he had something for me and then everything went black. I thought I heard something about a _fratello_ but I'm not sure."

Arthur sighed and mumbled something incoherent. "What if I told you that an entire world existed separate from ours but the same? And that to help us win the war, I summoned a few people from that world."

Lovino wanted to scoff and call him a crazy liar. He wanted to… but he didn't. There was no deception in his weary emerald eyes. "You people are so convinced you need to win that you broke the rules and used magic to beat us?" He asked instead.

"Those people are us. Identical duplicates from another dimension. There's one for me, Alfred, Ludwig, you, Feliciano and everyone else. In their world the two of you are brothers. We replaced you with your duplicate named Romano who is accompanied by the doubles of Ludwig, Kiku, and your uncle. He's the one who kidnapped you." Arthur completely ignored the comment about Spades' methods. It didn't matter anymore did it? What's done is done. "Russia, their Ivan, has been working covertly to stop Clubs from advancing and France, their Francis, has been trying to prevent Diamonds from entering the war. The four doubles of us-Spades royalty and Matthew- left a week ago for Chess to recover the Timepiece."

Lovino was silent, trying to grasp the concept of duplicates from an alternate dimension. Then he asked the all-important question: "Why are you telling me this?"

Arthur motioned for his wrists and unlocked the shackles around them. "Because we are on the same side for the first time in a long time and we all need to be on the same page. But we can't let you leave Spades until the war is over."

"What? Why?" Both stood and Arthur offered him a chunk of bread and water before answering. He took them both greedily.

"Because they are our secret weapon and the more souls that know are the more souls that can tell Ivan and even Francis about them. We'll keep you safe and well looked after but you have to trust that we know what we're doing. If everything goes as planned we may not need the Timepiece to win the war. Wouldn't that be something?"

The ball of fire extinguished itself and the two quickly left the dungeon to join the surface world.

* * *

"How 'bout this: We just ask whoever's in charge if they know anything about the thieves or the stupid clock and if they don't we blackmail 'em into keeping silent."

The train was just pulling into Carthage station and plan after plan was being formed and promptly scrapped. This one it seemed had potential.

"At least the words 'robot', 'hero', and 'super' weren't anywhere in that one this time. But we don't have time to question ten different royals spanning the continent of Europe hoping they know something." England grumbled, crossing his arms and glaring out the window at the Art Deco walls of the train station.

"Maybe they have a group like the Black Hand or something that stole it for them. Everybody knows black ops even in this middle-age world." America continued.

"I'd hardly call this 'middle-aged' this is late Eighteenth/early Nineteenth Century civilization."

"Who cares what era they live in?" China interrupted, causing both to shut up.

"America is right. They might very well have a militant group doing things for them underground." Canada said as they exited the train but no one paid him any attention.

Leading the group, Czesław talked animatedly with Allistor about the differences between their navies. The castle towering above them was gargantuan. Six story towers stood at the corners while an even higher main building housed its own numerous balconies, stained glass archways, and off center rooms. Definitely a European castle.

Czesław flashed a badge at the guards that met them at the gate before leading the group inside the massive oak doors. A long black and gold hallway looked eerily similar to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles but with more black and horse statues. _(4)_

They finally reached the throne where a very king-like blonde sat, waves of regality rolling off of him. That image was promptly shattered when he spoke.

"Dudes! I, like, totally have visitors! That, like, never happens!"

Sitting on the throne of the Black Knight adorned in a black robe with a hint of pink to add dimension was none other than Feliks Łukasiewicz, the doppelgänger of the personification of The Republic of Poland.

"Oh bloody hell! Why did it have to be _him_?!"

**Footnotes:**

**1: Carthage is like a phoenix, it kept getting destroyed and just kept coming back (like Poland). Lots of bloodshed within those borders (also like Poland).**

**2: Czesław is not my OC, I loved the name so I borrowed it from a fic I'm following. Credit to Warsaw and Vilnius (who totally need to update) for their fic and OC.**

**3: Google Translate sucks so don't bother with it. Really you can get the context but if you must know here's it in the Latin alphabet, "****_Dobryy vecher, gospodin korol'." _**

**4\. Alright I'm pretty sure you all know what Versailles is. Built by- I'm pretty sure- Louis XIV pretty much because he's French and he could. *I am not at liberty for things you write in your history essays.***

**Russia's scene was in my top three favorite scenes to write along with Italy's chloroform (kesesese…). I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Also I said no pairings but… the one next chapter is technically canon both from the show and history. I bet all of you (except my beta) that you can't guess which two characters are semi-shipped in the next chapter. At least on the first try.**

_**Gracias **_**for reading and see ya Tuesday!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Keep Your Enemies Closer**

**A/N: A warning, if you don't like angst/ dramatic-ness I would say just skip this chapter and piece together what you missed next chapter but this one is like, really important. Trust me, the drama is validated. And there's not even that much. Sorry, I love writing overly dramatic scenes but hopefully by now I haven't done too much. Also, um, I guess bump up the rating for Romano and Feliks this chapter. It's only one or two words but some people care about that. One more thing: I have never played not know next to nothing about Kingdom Hearts (or that one manga with a similar name) so any similarities between this and those are purely coincidental.**

Germany knew something was wrong. He just didn't know what it was. It was kind of like that feeling you get when you know you've forgotten something as you drive away convincing yourself that it was nothing. Then you get to where you're going and realize you left behind the reason you left in the first place.

That feeling.

Of course that wasn't the weirdest part of his day as an inter-dimensional doppelgänger personification of The Federal Republic of Germany. No, the weirdest part was when Italy sat next to him and commented on the war in four short words: "The Allies are winning."

Italy hadn't meant to make that reference but he did nonetheless and it made the German freeze. He was right, the allies-little a-were finally winning. When the whole world never lets you forget something that was really out of your control, it's like a broken record you can't take off the player. Especially when other nations have done similar atrocities and no one bats an eye. After Russia had kindly replaced Ivan who was being held even God-doesn't-know-where, the single fleet and a half that was the navy of Spades actually won something not by the skin of their teeth. Of course it was with the much needed help of Hearts.

Three days ago, the night after Russia became king, Germany gave up on acting in the shadows and he, Japan, and Italy joined Romano in replacing their doubles and had been delivering very familiar orders to heads of the military. The allies-still little a-were indeed winning.

And it was with that thought in mind that Germany watched a seething Romano march up to him and throw a letter in his face.

"Shit just hit the fan, potato bastard." The Italian said though clenched teeth. Germany quickly read the note and paled.

A certain Swiss had been snooping when he shouldn't have and France had been found out. He was in custody and there was a kingdom-wide manhunt for his fellow conspirators, a.k.a. three Spades Special Forces. Francis, upon meeting his double face to face, blamed Spades and in turn Hearts for trickery in a neutral kingdom and declared war on both of them, aligning with no one.

Shit had hit the fan indeed.

"The others know about this, yes?" He asked, trying to remain calm. It wasn't that their capture hadn't been thought of as a possibility, everyone had just assumed it would have been much sooner. There was also the factor that they couldn't just decimate Diamonds. That was the whole point of the Nations' intervention in the war in the first place.

As little casualties as possible for all sides. War had been inevitable, they knew that going in, the entire reason behind shipping America, Canada, England, China, and Matthew to Chess was to get back the damned clock which was beginning to rival the One Ring in terms of influence in war._(1)_ Everyone else stayed back to try and diffuse the situation without slaughtering the royals and replacing them with new ones. Peace had to be created by the people of _this_ universe not Nations of a different one. If they just spoon-fed them through their problems they would never survive.

But this _was_ war and it was going on nine days without any word from their departed ship. They were flying blind hanging on to a ghost of a hope to guide them through the fog and it just wasn't enough. While Spades played host to the royals of Hearts, defended their homeland against a new threat, and tried not to implode from inner turmoil, Germany just _knew _that _something_ wasn't right.

Germania be damned if they thought he wasn't going to figure it out.

* * *

"So, like, let me get this straight. A mystical clock that totally grants awesome power to the land that owns it was yours and now you lost it. Based off nothing more than a hunch by a creepy demon you sail across the ocean to accuse the Chessmen of stealing it." Feliks leaned back lazily in his chair as he summed up the last ten days of their lives in about twenty seconds, making them all seem very stupid in the process.

"Well when you put it like that…" England finally spoke from his seat at the lunch table. Feliks had not allowed them to speak a single word before getting food and he nearly shoved them inside the dining room at their half-agreeing reply.

The Pole chuckled, "I mean, seriously? Even our royalty waits for better reasoning before attacking White. And King Toris especially, man he waits for the freaking apocalypse before making a move against King Berwald. But he's one of the best leaders we've had in a long time. Shame he'll probably be dead soon…" Feliks trailed off and shrugged off the thought of his dead king like it was nothing. The others, however, couldn't just let that one go.

"Erm… so, who exactly is in your royal family? And what do you mean 'he'll probably be dead soon'?" America asked, hoping they hadn't left one war to be thrown into another. Chess was a deadly game.

"You know, America, you should really pay more attention. It might fool someone next time you try passing off as someone you're not." Feliks replied, laughing when six pairs of eyes bugged out.

"H-how did you know?" England asked incredulously. This blonde was not as broad as he seemed. He was Poland's double after all. They had to share at least some personality traits. Speaking of, it seemed this "mystical force" that chose world leaders had quite a sense of humor. The doppelgänger of Poland was of course guardian of a city with a horse as their mascot. It was so obvious it was sad that they'd missed it.

"Like, I'm the Black Knight of the Chess Empire, this place _rains_ magic. I know royals when I see 'em; they're magic's bitches. The only royals in this room are myself and Matthew over there." Said royal tried to become invisible but for once his power abandoned him. Feliks continued on without pausing.

"You four reek of a summoning spell even if it is faded. Don't think people from your world haven't washed up here before? Chess was an empire before it was a board game you know. They thought up playing cards based off your tetra-polar kingdom in the West after some crazy Chinese guy landed here oh Check, how many millennia ago was that? _(2)_

"I've met Poland actually. Cool guy. Don't know how he got here but we totally hung out and I showed him how awesome knights were." Six mouths lay gaping at Feliks' casual toss of information, something that probably would have been nice to know earlier. He caught their stares and shrugged.

"What? It's not like I was keeping it from you guys or anything. Though, I heard a rumor that no one in Cards that knew is still alive. Slaughtered in war. Oh well. Right, you wanted to know which of your friends make up our royalty." Feliks casually ate something, probably chocolate, before continuing.

"So if I remember right, and it was a long time ago so cut me some slack, Lithuania would be the Black King. Poland said his best friend Liet was also known as Toris. He actually only came to power about twenty years ago. The last war ended with White victory and over here it's tradition for the victorious king to kill the looser king as punishment for losing." He shrugged. "I've been around longer than most and I still don't get it myself."

"How old are you?" Allistor asked after the short silence, still confused about the entire conversation. Feliks looked up at the ceiling, spinning in his chair slowly while trying to think of an answer.

"I don't know actually. Lost track." He snapped his fingers and grinned triumphantly. "When I met Poland he said he was partnered with Lithuania as the same country or something. I became knight a few years before that."

"The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1569 to 1648. Four hundred years ago." England supplied and Feliks nodded, agreeing with the information,

"Yeah I am the oldest member of the Black royalty, just got lucky I guess. Picked the right battles and stuff. Anyway, so our queen is Eduard, our bishop is Raivis, and then there's me as the awesome knight, and Katyusha as the rook. And for White it's Berwald, Tino, Matthias, Lukas, and Emil in that order." The four Nations mentally swapped out human names for nation names and were not surprised that the Nordic Five stayed together as well as the Baltic Trio.

"Now, back to why I have visitors. You know its bad form to walk into someone's home uninvited and accuse them of theft, don't you?" Of course Feliks would bring up etiquette at a time like this. "Did you ever think that maybe you got bad information?"

"Gilbert may be a con man but he is a reliable con man nonetheless. He said it was you." Matthew said defensively and Feliks raised his hands in surrender.

"Dude, chillax. Were those his exact words? I'm not saying the Chessmen didn't have a hand in it but think about it: Why would we?" The room dropped into silence and Feliks resumed spinning in his chair while juggling chocolate truffles.

"What are you implying?" China spoke up, not liking where this was going.

"I'm not implying anything, China." Feliks took something out of his robe and tossed it at him. "What's that proverb? 'Keep your enemies close but your friends closer'?"

"It's actually the other way around." England corrected. China took whatever it was out of its black cloth wrapping and held it up for the rest of the table to see. It was a black tile with a red pawn painted on one side. Everyone looked to the knight for explanation.

"You sure about that? The red pawn is the symbol of a…secret government group you could say. They do things underground for the royals of both sides for a hefty price. Espionage, assassinations, and thievery. They work for anyone with a big enough bank.

"So the question is: Who would pay Crimson Pawn to steal your Timepiece? It's a nice trinket but as I said, Chess rains magic. Anything that thing can do, we can do better. And we have."

* * *

"Listen to me when I tell you do not make any brash mistakes! Where I come from impulsive thinking gets people killed. A lot of people killed. Do you really want that blood on your hands?"

France and Francis stood face to face in the dungeons of Diamonds. Currently the Nation was pleading with the king not to attack Spades or Hearts or Clubs because money isn't everything and it will only result in more lives lost.

"Why are you here? Where did you come from? And why shouldn't I attack Spades? They're sending spies into a neutral kingdom which, in case you are not aware, is highly frowned upon in war."

France groaned and ran his hands through his hair. Arguing with oneself was one thing, trying to convince oneself to not do something was even harder, as he was just discovering now. "If it helps, there are spies in Clubs and Hearts as well. And I am well aware of etiquette in war; I've fought in many myself. Sometimes you just have to turn a blind eye and stay out of it."

Francis leaned back against the wall, frustrated that he had gained no ground with his interrogation. He sighed, giving up and deciding to play his trump card.

"Let me tell you why I cannot simply 'turn a blind eye' as you said. Did they inform you of Queen Lili's position?"

France looked up at him, eyes narrowing at the subject change. "They told me she and her brother Basch replaced the former queen and jack after they were assassinated in the last war." Francis' head lowered and he nodded slowly, pushing off the wall he turned away to face the door and clasped his hands behind his back.

"That is true. But not the full truth. The previous queen and jack were in a convoy that had just arrived after a week at sea to come home. She wasn't supposed to be there but insisted on accompanying them to visit the wounded sailors at the field hospital on Isle Maid.

"I went to the docks to welcome them home and just barely saw her smiling face before the ship exploded right before my eyes. It had been carrying the queen, the jack, and fifteen wounded sailors plus a full crew. There were no survivors."

France stared at the stone ground beneath him, "I'm sorry to hear that." Francis spun around to face him, eyes glowing with sadness and rage.

"Years later, I found out who set the bomb to kill my people. My unarmed, wounded people. His name is Arthur, the current Queen of Spades. Do you know the name of my queen? The one he singled out to an excruciating death by fire?"

France froze and slowly brought his eyes up to meet Francis', refusing to believe it was her. It couldn't be her. There was just no way. No possible way the Universe could be _this_ cruel. The name escaped his lips before he could stop them, barely above a whisper.

"Jeanne."

Though the light in the dungeon was nearly nonexistent, France could see a lone tear trail down his doppelgänger's face. "So you do know. You know the pain I went through when she died. It wasn't immediate either; I found her floating on a beam from the ship, every square inch of her body covered in third degree burns. I fished her out and held her in my arms as I watched the light fade from her eyes. She died two minutes later. I loved her more than anything in the world."

France had nothing to say, no words could describe how he felt about Jeanne-his Jeanne-or how he felt toward Arthur. Francis did though. _(3)_

"I am not Ivan. I do not want to see Spades destroyed. They are not at fault for their leader's atrocities. What I want is to see Arthur suffer for the rest of eternity. And if Clubs can make that happen, then so be it. I won't stand in his way." Francis turned away and was about to leave the dungeon when France broke out of his silence and called out to him.

"I know what it was like to lose her. More than anyone in any universe, even you. And I have had far longer to harbor those feelings. Do not think for a second that I will ever forgive my Arthur for what he did those many years ago but…the past is the past. I know that he regrets what he did even if he will never speak it out loud. He may regret it more than failing to be a good brother to _Amérique._ If he could take it back he would in a millisecond. If your Arthur shares any semblance of that with mine, I bet my life that he feels the same way."

Francis hesitated before leaving.

"Regret will not bring my Jeanne back to me."

The iron door slammed shut, leaving France in darkness.

* * *

Ten days in and now Japan shared that uneasy feeling with Germany. Only now it wasn't that he forgot something, more like something wasn't adding up. Like when you did a really long math problem and it took you ten minutes to get an answer. But when you did you just stared at it wondering how those numbers could have possibly added up to that sum.

"Japan I need you to come with me. Now." The blonde has come up beside him while he'd been sitting outside enjoying the small respite in fighting for each side to rearrange the pieces on the game board. Japan nodded, though curious about what had the normally level-headed German so flustered, he followed him anyway.

"What is this about, Germany-san?"

"I made a deal with a devil and I'm going to pay up. I want you to be there." Both Nations walked a little ways away from the sight of the castle before Germany dug through his pockets and pulled out a playing card with a black joker decorating the face.

"So, figured it out yet?" A familiar voice called from behind them. The card dissipated into smoke and the Nations turned to face Gilbert who leaned against his black staff.

"You knew. You knew this whole time who took the Timepiece. Why keep it from them?" Germany demanded, getting straight to the point.

"You don't know? I am the last of my people who annihilated each other over that damn clock. Why wouldn't I want their offspring to do it again?"

"Millions of innocent people are going to die because you withheld information." Japan said in his 'angry voice' which was his normal speech, only raised slightly. Gilbert glared at him and pointed his staff like a spear at them.

"I withheld nothing. I explicitly told you rumor had it the Chessmen were to blame. I told you not one of the other suit kingdoms was at fault. I also warned you of the new player in the game. It was all on your own conclusions that you didn't stop to think and sent five very important people off to Chess to accuse them. I gave you your answer, you just don't know it."

Japan and Germany shared a glance, minds running on all cylinders as they tried deciphering the joker's words.

"Who is this new player you keep referring to?" Japan said finally. Gilbert grinned manically, red eyes catching the sunlight, making them glow.

"At last, you're asking the right questions. But I never said the player was a person." He chided. Japan turned to Germany, pieces finally fitting together.

"Gilbert said not one of the other three kingdoms. He didn't say anything about Spades itself. I remember his warning: If the Chessmen are at fault, there's a new player in this game of war, one none of you want to face. I do not think it is a person but an idea. The new player is treachery."

Slow clapping made them both turn to face the grinning Gilbert.

"Treachery, betrayal, treason, falsity, all wonderful words to describe the deadliest concept to any organization. Now the big question of the day: Who killed Roger Rabbit?"

**Footnotes:**

**1: The One Ring from Lord of the Rings.**

**2: There is no established religion in the currently explored world. "Check" is substituted for "God" as a type of expletive. Check mate in chess signifies the end of the game, I thought it appropriate. It's strange how often chess is used as a euphemism for war in literature and movies. It's just a game you know? ...Or is it?**

**3: Jeanne d'Arc (or Joan of Arc for all you uncultured swines). Hundred Years' War. Just watch the ERB for her. Or the season 5 episode about her.**

**Do you know how long it took for France to fall to Germany in WWII? Six weeks. And that was with tanks and guns and slaughter machines. War was so much slower before the Twentieth Century. People actually fought because they wanted to and they believed in it one hundred percent. Now it's just business.**

**So the big one is revealed! Well sort of, now you guys just have to figure it out. I await your guesses in the comments ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Judas in the Game of War**

**A/N: Screw waiting until 7:00. Guys, it's official. This is the longest chapter out of the entire story thus far (5,072). Quick note within a note- there might be just a hint of OOCness in here. IDK I tried to fix it but something keeps telling me I always could have said it better. Of course now you'll be looking for it which makes it even worse.**

"We need to get back to the others. Now." England stood from his place at the table and began heading out, followed by the rest of the company, until Feliks spoke.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You still have no idea where your clock is. Going back to tell them there's a traitor in their midst won't bring it back any faster." England spun to face him.

"Well then what the bloody hell do you suggest we do, hm? I can't just call them up on my cell phone now can I? I can't take a day to fly over there on my jet either. And if they die while we're still over here our chances of getting home in one piece are about as high as finding a needle in a pile of needles."

Feliks rolled his eyes and stood, shedding the black robes for a dark pink button-down and black trousers. "Just take the one on top when no one's looking. I don't know what a cell phone is but if you need a way to talk to them I know somebody who can help."

"And who would that be? Or better yet, how far away is he?" England asked mockingly, crossing his arms.

"Lukas, the White Knight." Feliks took the lead and walked straight out the front doors of the castle, waving off servants who tried to stop him.

"I thought you guys were like, mortal enemies or something?" America said from the back of the group.

"We are, but he totally owes me for not killing him last time. I totally crushed him and even mortal enemies keep their word over here. I suggest you stop expecting the same from your kingdoms. Doesn't seem to be working out to well for you." He slowed and backtracked to Canada. "You're Canada right?" A Poland in another dimension recognizes him but his own family still forgets. How sad. "Can I borrow your cloak?" The Canadian nodded and returned to walking in step with Matthew.

"So how far is Lukas' place?" Matthew asked as Feliks led them around the side of the castle.

"Not far, just at the foothills of the mountains. He's been here for about a week messing around over there. I hear he wants to tunnel through them. No one else really pays attention to that land."

"Where are you taking us? The train station is the other way." China spoke up, agitation evident in his voice.

"First, the trains don't run down there because, as I just said, no one really pays attention to it. And second I hate trains so we're taking more reliable transportation."

England's guard went up at that. _Please don't say what I think you're going to- _they rounded a corner and Feliks stopped proudly in front of the building.

"Ponies!"

* * *

"Romano, I need you to stay here and keep up appearances. Can you not fight me for once in your life and follow orders?"

"Shut up, potato bastard! I never have and never will take orders from you. What am I supposed to do when people start asking questions, eh? Tell them 'oh the great King Ludwig, Queen Kiku, and Jack Feliciano are all unavailable please call back later'? This is war you know!"

"I don't care what you have to do! Are you not home to the 'O so magnificent Italian mafia?' Think of something, _dummkopf_!"

Germany and Japan had quickly decided to deal with treasonous Spades citizens in person and that meant dragging Italy along with them so he wouldn't do something stupid. That also meant leaving Romano behind alone, an idea he was clearly against. He gave up on trying to reason with the man and instead turned to Japan to get the boat going. It would take a few hours to make it to Spades and their castle and they had no time to waste.

After Gilbert dropped the bomb that there was a traitor in their midst behind the entire war, the two had been working all day on who it could possibly be. They went over the entire first encounter in their heads again once they were clear of the harbor.

"Remember when he said it wasn't that hard to figure out?" Japan said looking rather odd at the helm of the ship dressed in a crimson coat. Germany and Italy stood on either side of him leaning against the railing.

"Maybe he was implying that it would be someone we met already. Though he talked exclusively to Alfred, Arthur, and Yao after he made the deal with me, maybe it is someone they know." Germany offered, his normal slicked back hair whipping wildly in the wind.

"He said it was the Chessmen. What if they were hired to throw off the scent of whoever really took it? An easy way to blame it on the other kingdoms at first and if people began digging they would look to Chess, which we did." Japan said, his hand reaching back for the third time since they'd arrived for a katana that wasn't there. A ghost of a scowl crossed his features as he was reminded of that fact once again.

"It sounds like whoever this was knew how to cover their tracks. They would have experience and influence in the world. Say they did hire someone. Wouldn't they have to pay them for their services? Your average thief doesn't have the resources for that." Italy spoke up, on topic for once. His allies turned to him after exchanging a glance.

"Italy?" Germany asked.

The redhead shrugged. "I don't know. It just seems like someone with a lot of money and power would be behind it."

"Like a royal." The blonde said in realization. "So that narrows it down to four: Alfred, Arthur, Yao, or Matthew."

Japan shook his head. "It wasn't Alfred. He may not be a carbon-copy of America but I know what he looks like when he's hiding something. There was nothing but anger and at the whole situation and fear for his people in those eyes. Like America, he loves his land and his people too much to do anything to threaten their safety. I've known China longer than anyone, it wasn't him either. He values honor and loyalty nearly more than his own life at times. You just have to trust that I know he's innocent."

"I trust your judgment, Japan." Germany said with full sincerity. "Then that leaves two: Arthur and Matthew."

"Isn't Arthur the one with all the magic? Maybe it was him." Italy suggested absently, pulling out a white flag and toying with the frayed edges. His allies stared at him. Germany was about to comment before Japan cut him off.

"Apologies, Germany-san but let's think about this before we jump to that conclusion." Germany closed his mouth and motioned for Japan to continue. "Magic may not even be in play here, Alfred is capable of it as well. Matthew is the one who suggested we call Gilbert, making us falsely accuse Chess and send away three of our strongest people to a foreign country where they are unable to help us at all." Japan began pacing slowly between them, going through the evidence for them as well as himself.

"We haven't heard a single word from them since they departed. Matthew also left with them last minute with the reasoning that they needed someone who knew the politics of their kingdom. Allistor is a top captain in their navy; he would have been more than enough to explain the basics of Cards. Also, going with them would allow him a front row seat to the investigation and put him in a position to steer them awry should they get to close to the answer."

Germany crossed his arms and stared at his ally. "So you're saying he used them as a way to escape the war as well as the spotlight." Japan stopped pacing and nodded.

"He might be planning to leave from there 'scot-free' as England-san would say."

Germany sighed. "Why is it always the quiet ones?"

* * *

"So, Toris was all like, 'No, there's like, no way it could be me. I'm not a leader.' And the rest of us just weren't buying in. After all, if you're chosen then you are a leader. But he didn't think so…" England tuned out Feliks' tale of how their latest king came to be and slowed his horse to fall slightly further behind them. He fell into line with Matthew who looked slightly annoyed as well.

"I don't know if I trust this guy." He said, glancing at the blonde in the lead.

"Why is that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It just seems odd that he's so ready and willing to help after we accused his people of a crime they really didn't do."

"Maybe that is precisely why he's helping us. Clear his countrymen's names and get us out of his land all in one shot." England replied, shifting slightly in his saddle. No, journeying on horseback was not high on his bucket list but it did bring back a sense of euphoria for a time long past. Back when there really were knights and castles and kings and queens. This land was like a dark fairy tale: The hero would be his company and the damsel in distress would be the kingdoms of Cards.

England laughed lightly. Finally America actually got to play the hero he'd been dreaming to aspire to his whole life, complete with a crown on his head and a horse by his side. He had to admit the young Nation's outrage at Alfred's title had been rather amusing, convincing him further that this "mysterious force" at play in this world went out of its way to make ironic decisions in its leadership choices.

Up ahead Feliks' pony slowed and he held up a hand as a sign for caution. Everyone's guard rose instantly and even the noises in the forest around them seemed to stop. That strange sense of euphoria had England reaching down for a sword hilt that wasn't there; that hadn't been there in over two hundred years.

Out of seemingly nowhere the loud crack of a bullet hitting a tree just a few inches to the left of Canada's head made the horses panic and rear up, nearly throwing their mounts in the process.

"_Uciekaj_!" Feliks yelled. Everyone was quick to follow the universal command. Abandoning any sense of formation all thoughts went to one word: escape. And they did; a minute later five horses and one pony sprinted onto the open road and away from any cover of trees. If the bandits wanted to take them on, they would have to do it face to face.

But no one followed them, no one attacked them. For a moment, they questioned if they'd imagined the whole thing. Feliks dismounted and did a head count.

"America, China, Allistor, England and…" All eyes turned to the last member of the group.

"I'm Canada." He said. Matthew was gone.

"What the hell do we do now?" America yelled, clearly upset that he'd let his brother's duplicate get captured by ruthless bandits and unlike them, he could die. Humans were very fragile creatures, especially those with a price on their head.

"We continue on to find Lukas. They won't kill him if they know who he is; they'll want to ransom him to the highest bidder which will probably end up being me or one of my enemies. Sorry, but Lukas is top priority." Feliks re-mounted his pony and grudgingly led them closer to what would be the Pyrenees Mountains in their world. Was it really that outrageous to think that they would be completely safe from harm on foreign soil? There very well could have been spies from the very beginning watching their every move, waiting for the perfect time to strike, knowing they wouldn't nor couldn't do anything about it.

"We promised we would protect him." America muttered, falling behind to match stride with England who shook his head.

"No, we didn't." _(*)_

* * *

Feliks knew he was in the right location when soldiers bearing the white horse emblem stepped in their path and wouldn't let them pass.

"Like, you guys are on my land you know." He said, electing to remain on his pony three heads taller than the largest soldier. "I'm here to speak with the White Knight. Tell me, where is Lukas?"

"Who are you?" One guy asked, finding it hard to believe Feliks could be anyone of importance.

Said blonde glared and dropped the hood of his cloak. "I'm here to speak with Lukas. Tell me where he is." Sometimes it was hard to remember Poland was rather spineless, at least in the face of Sweden. Right now he was milking every ounce of royal status he could muster and using against the soldiers, who faltered slightly.

"Feliks? What are you doing so far from home, _Polsk_?" A new voice called from a small shop off on the side of the road.

"I could ask the same of you, _Norweski_. Up until the highest peak of that mountain range every inch of this land is Black Knight territory. I'm letting you stay here 'cause I'm lazy. I've totally known you were here the whole time." It was then that Feliks dismounted and confronted him, looking rather comical being a head shorter than him.

"What do you want, Feliks?" He sighed looking like his day just took a turn for the worst. The Pole turned back to the group, grinning.

"Nations and Captain, meet the White Knight Lukas. White Knight Lukas, meet the Nations and Captain." The five nodded in acknowledgement, England slightly upset with his introduction. "So, since you owe me for sparing your life I have a favor to ask." Feliks looked like a nervous child asking his parents to go out for the first time in his life. Lukas stiffened slightly, eyes narrowing at the request.

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

America realized the nervousness was just a front as Feliks' smirk was only visible from his perspective. Alfred had been right: the Nations in this universe really didn't hide behind masks and if they did it was only long enough to get what they wanted. This was Feliks' mask and he wore it like no one else. He had Lukas in the palm of his hand, probably knowing he would from the very beginning.

"My friends here are in need of a way to contact their allies in the west and you, being a magic man far superior to that of myself, seemed like the perfect candidate to make that happen."

Lukas scoffed, "A simple spell like that? I figured you would waste that favor on something a bit more complex."

"I didn't say that was the favor now did I? There's more to me dragging myself all the way out here than just passing a message." Feliks' calm, icy tone was unnerving at best. The others could see how he became the eldest of Black royalty. He made you drop your guard and pass him off as nothing more than a fool unfit for such a title before leaving your dying body in a place no one would ever find it. In some ways his drastic change in personality was scarier than Russia.

At least with him you could expect some insane plan involving excessive torture. But with Feliks, and this may apply to Poland as well, he didn't need a terrifying persona and he achieved the same exact results. He _had_ ruled pretty much all of Eastern Europe once upon a time. _(1)_

Lukas clenched his jaw before responding. "Fine. I have a temporary home just up the road, but you probably already knew that didn't you?" The smirk was all he needed to confirm those suspicions. "We'll do the spell there. On the way you can tell me who your 'friends' are."

Feliks clapped him on the back, tugging the reins of his pony forward as they walked in sync. "With pleasure."

* * *

"We need to speak with Alfred immediately, let us pass."

"On what terms?" The guard of eight retorted to Japan's demand.

"We're allies right? Does it matter what the terms are?" Italy spoke up from behind him. The guards said nothing, refusing to let them pass. Behind them a blonde solider with a number ten on his sleeve was walking with two others and glanced at them in passing, halting when he recognized them.

"Stop! Let them pass, let them pass!" He yelled, running over to greet them. "They are very important people, as you know, and should be directed straight to the king and queen."

"Yes, Commander Dylan, it won't happen again." They let the trio through and the doppelgänger of Wales personally led them up to the castle.

"I sincerely apologize for the treatment. Most of our people- military especially- are still touchy about the previous war and don't like allowing foreigners inside our lands without a fight." The familiar explanation fell heavy on all of their hearts, even oblivious Italy. It seemed these two worlds shared more circumstantial history with each passing second, none of it good. _(2)_

"It is not a problem. We just need to speak with your leaders as soon as possible." Dylan nodded as he led them up the long flight of stairs in front of the main castle doors.

"Yes, well I just spoke with Jack Yao inside so he should still be around." The trio entered the castle alone and upon walking toward the war room bumped into Kiku who did a double take.

"I think those chemicals are still affecting my vision." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes and blinking.

"Uh, Kiku, Japan, Japan, Kiku. _Complimenti_ on meeting each other now goodbye." Italy grabbed both Japan and Germany's wrists and dragged them down the hall, leaving a still-confused Kiku standing alone in the hallway.

As they turned a corner Italy and Yao bumped heads and the latter recoiled, muttering curses. "Feliciano, didn't I-"

"I'm _Italia_ and we have important things to discuss. Where are the others?" It was amazing how one's mood could flip so drastically with a change in circumstance. But that was Italy's mask and he'd been around long enough to know when to when to wear it and when to not.

Yao faltered at his tone, "They are upstairs. We can discuss whatever this is up there."

Once they made it to Alfred and Arthur, Germany took over the explanation.

"We think we've figured out who stole your clock." He wasted no time in getting started. Three sets of eyes widened, eager for an explanation.

"We have reason to believe it was Matthew." Japan stated, nearly getting cut off by Alfred.

"What are you talking about? My own brother would never do such a thing. It's high treason!" Japan launched into his lengthy explanation and the doubt slowly melted from Alfred's face to be replaced with a sheer need for it to not make sense.

"No, that- he would never- Mattie?" Alfred turned to his companions for support but neither said a word.

Behind them white smoke began slowly collecting into an oval-shaped opaque disk. Yao tapped Alfred's shoulder and he turned to face the disk, gawking at the sight of it. Moments later an image appeared on the hazy surface.

The image comprised of seven familiar faces in a dark, low-roofed room. The blonde in the far rear had his eyes closed and was muttering something incoherently with his hands outstretched.

"Hey Lukas, I think it worked. You can stop the creepy chanting now." A blonde off to the side said.

"Poland?" Germany asked, finally making out the faces of China, America, England, Allistor, Canada, Poland, and Norway through the smoky disk. Norway stopped chanting as the disk solidified and became a relatively clear image.

"Nope, not Poland. I'm Feliks and the guy in the back is Lukas, Black and White Knights of the Chess Empire. You already know the rest. Germany right?"

England decided to take over from there. "Feliks here knows about us. Apparently, he met Poland four hundred years ago who withheld nothing. Listen we have important news-"

Germany was tired of this world's endless surprises so he just accepted that fact and moved on. "If it's about having a traitor in our midst save your breath because we just figured out who he was. And Alfred, look, he's not there. Believe us yet?"

Alfred nodded gravely, lowering his head in acceptance. Yao didn't look much better than him.

"Who's not where? And really? Listen we ran into a problem a while back and ah, well it's bad." America said, looking to the others for guidance on what to say.

"Where is Matthew?" Germany asked, more just to hear him say he was gone than for an actual response.

Six faces visibly darkened and Alfred continued. "There were some bandits on the road a while back and we're almost positive they have him. Th-there hasn't been a new ace chosen has there?" Everyone on the other side of the mirror, save Lukas, visibly relaxed at the collective shake of heads. "What's this about figuring out who the thief is?"

"We think- no, we _know_ it is Matthew. There hasn't been a single sign to say otherwise as of yet. What more evidence do you need?" Germany said, not looking at all displeased with having to deliver the hard truth.

"Well, uh, actually I'll ask for explanation later but we still have a problem. The bandits are going to ransom him."

"And why is that a problem?" Yao asked, still fighting to believe the truth but doubting his instincts more and more.

"Because if he's the traitor like you say he is, what's he gonna do for the highest bidder?"

"He'll sell us out. Everything he knows will go to Chess." Alfred said in disbelief.

"Wait." Japan said, the force behind that word making everyone freeze. "What if there were no bandits? It may have been a cover for him to make his escape. Is there anywhere you think he would go? Or any place he told you _not_ to go?"

"Backgammon." America, Canada, and England said without hesitation. Japan shrugged ever so slightly.

"There you have it then."

"Well that doesn't make any sense! What would that old geezer Julius want with incriminating information against Cards?" Feliks said indignantly and Italy perked up.

"Grandpa Rome?"

"Yes, we think all the ancients are in Backgammon. Germania would be there, you know." England said softly. Germany looked downcast, mixed feelings about the mention of his father. _(3)_ "So we have to go to Backgammon to track him down and make him tell us where he hid the clock? How much longer can anyone over there hold out?"

"Clubs is falling back thanks to combined forces of Spades and Hearts but Diamonds just declared war on both of us. France was found out." Arthur said voice low with disappointment more than anything.

"Of course. The frog can't do anything right." England grumbled. "It will take us days, maybe a week or two to find him and get him to talk, assuming that's where he went. We all know how far jumping to conclusions got us last time."

Alfred and Yao shook their heads in unison. "Diamonds is a very powerful and formidable opponent and Francis especially after the last war. If Clubs regroups and allies with them we're done. Game over. The Timepiece must be recovered now more than ever."

"All we know for sure is that an underground group called Crimson Pawn did the theft under orders of apparently Matthew. It's not in Europe and we can't just scour the globe for it."

"Actually we can." Lukas said, effectively drawing attention away from England. "I created a locator spell. It usually works for people only but I can tweak it for this. Does anyone have an image of it I can use as a reference?"

"I already tried a locator spell, it didn't work." Arthur said while Alfred ran off to grab a painting of it while Lukas spread out a world map on the ground in his temporary home, the others backing up to accommodate it. When Alfred returned with the painting Lukas studied it, taking in every detail possible before tossing a grey powdery substance on the map and beginning his chant, a pocket watch swaying slightly in his hand.

The powder formed into a snake like shape as it slithered around the continents with no apparent pattern or system. After minutes of anticipation the powder dispersed and Lukas stopped chanting, looking troubled.

"What is it?" Arthur asked. Lukas studied the random display of powder before muttering something incoherent.

"Your locator spell didn't _not_ work; it was just incomplete. This clock isn't anywhere on this Earth."

"What do you mean? Was it destroyed?" Alfred asked, desperately fearing the worst. Lukas just shook his head.

"No…no I can definitely feel it. It's a strong source of power but it's in some sort of a shadow zone. I can't pinpoint it."

"It's in our dimension." England said suddenly. "Think about it. Someone over here opens a gate between our world and the Timepiece crosses it. We now share a link between our world and this one. A day later Arthur makes an ambiguous call for help and out of every possibility his help arrives in the form of us because of that gate. For magic, crossing the inter-dimensional barrier when there's already a link is easier than searching for one in the same field."

"Great factoid Artie but that doesn't explain how we get it from our world back to this one." America said, earning a glare from his former caretaker.

"You need someone from the other side to push it back over here." Lukas said with a sigh, yet another roadblock.

"I'm gonna kill the little bastard when this is all over. I don't care if he looks like my Mattie 'cause I know it ain't him. Canada would never stoop so low, right bro?" Canada smiled warmly at his brother but froze when someone spoke up.

"Wait." Arthur said, sighing longingly and staring at the floor. "Matthew is innocent."

Alfred over at him and Arthur cut him off before he could speak.

"It was me."

**Footnotes:**

**1: Poland is like a cat. Nine lives and then some. It got partitioned three times, ruled an empire with Lithuania bigger than two Ukraines, and survived the tug-o-war between Russia and Germany twice. (Oh and everything that's happening over in Eastern Europe now)**

**2: Tons of people (read: England) are still touchy about Germans and Germany as I said in an earlier chapter. People like grudges, just look at Cuba for example. We finally forgave each other just this year for the Missile Crisis. Aside from angst there really wasn't much that happened there anyway. No one died, no one declared war. It was more like a massive staring contest for a few decades (and apparently quite a few chess matches). I feel bad for continuously picking on Germany but they are the only ones [we Americans] really still hold a grudge against for their past. We're buds with Japan and they're the ones who bombed us. But some old vets still like to point fingers every now and then. Not that the Nazi regime was better than Pearl Harbor but still, there are some of us who think they're still kicking (this is why foreigners don't like us). And, as far as I know, Germans are the only ones who are insanely sensitive about the guy. Really, if they let it go like the rest of the world tries to this wouldn't happen. He lived, he killed, he died, the end.**

**3\. More history involving a depressed Germany- you all know Germania's role and all but on a grander scheme of things the guy didn't do much to leave a good path for his kids to follow. Not that many of the ancients did because they all crumbled to dust but still. The only one who really didn't leave a legacy for their successors was Native America. Britannia crumbled, Greece crumbled, Rome crumbled. Hey like that one song in "We all Fall Down".**

***:If you'd care to reread chapter four or so you'll know what he meant if you don't already know.**

**Another note- It's implied that Gilbert received payment on Germany's part, I just skipped the information we all already know about our dear departed Nation. And I did pay homage to those US/UK shippers out there, just a little. Your welcome.**

**So the culprit is revealed! It's about time I'd say. Shocked? Nonplussed? Totally called it? Hate me for cliffies? See ya next week for the reasons why. I hope you enjoyed the extra six hundred or so words.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: The War to End All Wars**

**A/N: (Apologies for the typo last chapter, but I'm not going back to fix it) This is it! It all ends here. Probably the longest chapter and my favorite (Yeah I take it back from last chapter, it's this one by a few hundred 5,179). Also more italics and my final favorite scene! Thanks for making it this far guys! On with the final act~**

They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. And it seems that those same intentions often get their owners killed once they realize their mistakes. Arthur's fate had not been decided though, for religion, as most knew it, didn't exist in this world. Yet it seemed he still walked that lonely road, but he'd been in Hell long before good intentions were ever put into thought.

"Wh-What do you mean, Arthur?" Alfred's broken voice rang out against the silence. After Arthur's statement not a soul dared to move. Those three little words held so much pain, hurt, sadness, and regret.

"I mean Alfred," Arthur met his gaze, "that I am the one who hired Crimson Pawn. I am behind everything that has happened over the past week and a half. But it- it didn't go like I planned it to at all. Not at all."

"So what? You just thought it would be fun to watch us tear each other apart?" Yao sneered, venom dripping from his words.

"No! I- the plan was for them to take the Timepiece and lock it away where no one would ever find it. They swore on their lives they would. They worked with Gilbert's magic to send it away. I was supposed to make a duplicate, a replica to take its place. I thought that without the Timepiece in play we would be on equal ground and the fighting would stop. But then its disappearance was discovered before I could fix it and three days later, Clubs was at our doorstep.

"I never wanted another war. I never intended for this to happen. But then it just got so out of hand and Gilbert nearly sold me out and Matthew unknowingly started drawing more attention to himself and I- I was scared. I was terrified of what you would do to me for treason so… I let him take the fall for me." Arthur dropped to his knees, voice wavering prominently.

"When he shipped himself off to go find it I knew the blame would go to him. We started losing people, Clubs advanced more rapidly than ever before, and Diamonds entered the war… I- I don't know what else to say."

"Arthur how could you? Why didn't you stop and tell us sooner? We could have figured something out! I stood there and signed an ultimatum declaring war on what would be all three kingdoms and you were silent the entire time. Do you know how many people we've lost in the past eleven days?"

Yao said nothing as he swiftly unsheathed his sword and walked right up to Arthur, ignoring the indignant cries and raising it into a deadly position. He stood there looking down on the Queen of Spades, weapon trembling in his hand before he let it fall to the floor with a clatter. Arthur didn't even flinch the entire time.

"Whoa. I see I've come at a bad time." Thirteen heads swiveled toward the new voice standing in the doorway of the throne room. He stood there, wide-eyed, wearing a long crimson coat, lace-up boots, and a hat with ribbons tilted precariously on his head. At his feet sat a three-foot diameter gold and silver gilded clock complete with a golden chain. "Should I just leave it here and go or…?"

"_Romania_?!" Every Nation present yelled his name in unison and he took a step back at the ferocity.

"Calm down! Yeah, it's me. Kinda hard to mistake me for someone else. So, this thing appeared in Mo's place and it made his people go all wonky. I just reversed the magic that sent it there and here I am. Was that whole argument about the clock, 'cause its back. Promise I didn't scratch it or anything." No one moved aside from Romania who fidgeted under their stares.

"Hey Vlad, is that you?" Feliks called from the smoky window, it was angled away from the door so the image was incredibly warped.

"Feliks or Poland over there?" He called, walking around to see the window better.

"I, like, haven't seen you in forever, broski! How's that Hungry or whoever she is?"

"Hung_a_ry and she's fine. No wars since the last one." _(1)_

"Wait a minute." England interrupted, glancing between Romania and Feliks. "You met him too?" He glared at the Nation. "You've been here before?" Said Nation nodded. "And you didn't think to, oh I don't know, _tell me_ about it? Or Norway?"

He shrugged. "Would you have believed me if I told you I went to a universe where chess is reality and an alternate version of Poland is the Black Knight?"

"Maybe I-"

"No." Romania shook his head. "You wouldn't have. So can I leave now? I don't like China- er, Yao I guess, wielding a sword like that." He didn't wait for a response before flashing out of existence with a snap, leaving behind the faint smell of ancient burning candles.

All eyes turned to the no-longer-missing Timepiece and Alfred as he slowly walked over to pick it up, fingers brushing against it tentatively before grasping the edges and hauling it up off the ground.

"Arthur, I'll deal with you later. Yao, come with me, we still have a war to win." Yao quickly followed Alfred out of the castle while the Axis trio and Arthur remained.

"What do you think they're going to do with him?" Japan asked quietly, out of hearing range of the still-crumpled Arthur.

"If he did that in our world, we'd probably send him to prison, or deport him." Germany responded, still staring at the blonde a few feet away from him.

"What do we do about Matthew? Seeing as he probably _was_ kidnapped by bandits after all." America asked, slight bitterness creeping into his voice. They had front row seats to the entire show and he still couldn't believe it.

Arthur was a lot of things but a traitor? That was hardly one of them. Well, _this _Arthur. England was no stranger to ditching allies. _(2)_ England had been watching as well, and had said nothing since his confession, probably wondering how his duplicate in another world would ever justify war like that.

"I can try another locator spell." Lukas said, still horribly confused about the whole scene that just played out in front of him. Without context it probably was hard to follow. "Does anyone have something of his? I'll have to disconnect us from the window, time is up."

A moment later the smoky window dissipated into the nothingness it came from and the four in the throne room were brought back into silence.

* * *

"Can't you just use me?" Canada asked, stepping forward. Lukas looked him over and sighed, shrugging.

"I can try but I don't think it will work." Lukas took Canada's hand in his own and began his chant once more, the gray powder reforming into its snake-like shape. It centered on a location in southwestern Chess, just north of the mountains. The knight opened his eyes and shook his head. "As I suspected, you two are not the same person. Two separate identities, two separate souls. Image is not everything to a person, as you all just saw with Arthur's display."

"So the spell didn't work. Great." America said, looking rather agitated.

"I'm sorry, it's the best I can do. For the clock, an image was easy because there's only one of them. For Matthew, I only have Canada as a reference so Canada will be what it finds. At least as of now he's still alive. Otherwise there would be a new ace for Spades walking through those castle doors.

"The next best thing I can do would be to send you all to Spades or home through the gate. Matthew is a native of this world, therefore it is the responsibility of the people in this world to find him and bring him home. You are needed back in your dimension. There's nothing more you can do here."

America immediately protested. "Hell no, Norway- Lukas- whatever the hell you go by; we're not leaving until each and every one of us is ready to leave with us." Canada, England, and China all nodded in agreement. "Send us to Spades, we'll figure out a way home from there together as a group."

Lukas looked between the four Nations and smirked. "If only the royals here could be so stubbornly noble. Very well, I shall send you to Spades. Maybe you can convince that Gilbert to do this spell for you." He scribbled down some words on a parchment and handed it to England who began reading over it. "This will transport you across the gate."

He folded up the world map and drew a magic circle on the ground. The four Nations stepped inside it but Allistor stayed out.

"I have a ship to return and men to look after. I guess this is goodbye then?" He grinned at their forlorn nods. "See you in another life!"*

"Dudes! You're leaving? But I was just getting to know you. Tell Poland to come visit me some time and to bring Liet with him!" England chuckled and agreed to Feliks' wish. Then the room glowed once more and their friends disappeared.

* * *

They landed in the ocean. More precisely the dark green waters of the harbor in Spades, the tip of the azure castle just barely visible. _(3)_

"Aiyah! He couldn't have moved us a few feet to the left?" China complained as he struggled to haul himself up onto the floating docks. America smoothly lifted himself out of the water and held out a hand for the Asian Nation who took it, still grumbling about getting soaked.

"So what do we do now?" Canada asked wringing out his coat and dumping water out of his boots.

"Well we need to find the others and go home." England said pat-drying the parchment with the priceless spell on it. Thankfully, none of the ink smudged during its short trip in the drink.

"What about the war?" America asked, earning an incredulous look from his former caretaker.

"The war? Didn't you hear Lukas? We're not needed here anymore. Don't you want to go home? We did what we came here to do, or rather Romania did. Still can't believe the wanker… showing up like that, how ungentlemanly…" England trailed off and copied Canada's system of wringing out his clothes.

"I didn't spend eleven days of my life in this world to just leave right before the climax of the story! This fairy tale has an ending and I will be there to see it." America left no room for argument as he marched off to the castle, dragging Canada with him.

England huffed in annoyance, muttering something about an insufferable git before chasing after them, China right behind him.

"America you can't just- hold on a second!"

* * *

You ever have those family members that just fight for the sake of fighting because they really can't stand the sight of one another? They have the most moronic reasons for instigating that too. "He made me stub my toe so I'm going to mash his face in with a turkey baster." Stupid things like that.

There are some family members who quickly forgive and forget until next time when the feud is over something else completely irrelevant. The four suit kingdoms of Cards were like the former, only stopping when there's no one left to continue fighting. Or they just loose interest and call it a tie even though there was a clear winner, like another war back in the Nineteenth Century. _(4)_

The six face cards of Spades and Hearts stood together on one of the only islands left in the sea not claimed by any of the four kingdoms- Karnöffel- which took the place of Puerto Rico. Feliciano proudly waved his white flag, for the first time not as a means of surrendering.

The only ones who knew what the hell was going on were Alfred and Yao. Seven Nations and eight royals were left clueless, just following and hoping they knew what they were doing. They'd dragged Arthur with them, having as much trust for him as one should trust world peace. Off in the distance a small group of ships appeared bearing the diamond insignia on an orange background.

So Francis _had_ agreed to come after all. A small rowboat departed from the center ship carrying two identical blondes and a familiar brunette. The King of Diamonds stepped ashore and drew his sword but kept it low to the ground while the brunette assisted France out of the boat. His hands were tied behind his back.

Arthur tensed when he saw them, leaning away almost imperceptibly. Francis did not look like a happy person; in fact, he looked downright pissed to be there. Antonio still had a smile on his face, even now when the tension on the beach could be cut with a plastic butter knife. Optimism certainly was a gift.

"Hello, Francis, Antonio, and France." Alfred greeted as cordially as possible, though his voice was still tight and small. Francis, upon seeing Arthur, abandoned any sense of professionalism and turned his sapphire glare onto the shorter blonde.

"What is this about, Alfred? You know we are at war, yes?"

Alfred didn't miss a beat. "Yes, I am aware. You know what a white flag means, yes?"

"Surrender." France shot back.

"Peace. It means peace, Francis."

Francis' gaze hadn't left Arthur this entire time and he continued glaring him down as he spoke. "What is so important that you felt the need to call me out here? As I said, we are at war."

Alfred and Yao exchanged a glance, the latter shaking his head ever so slightly. "Just wait for Ivan. You can do that, can't you? Hold off on killing us just for a few more moments?"

Francis huffed but agreed in the end. Behind the orange ships came a single green ferry. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." He said.

Three figures approached: A tall, platinum-haired man, a light brunette woman, and a dark brunette man.

"Ivan-"

"_Fredka_, I am Russia." Elisaveta and Roderich glanced at him uneasily.

"Then where's Ivan?" Yao asked, suspicion dripping from his words.

Russia grinned. "He became one with Russia, _da_? Now, _F__redka,_ I suggest you continue. I would like to be going home soon."

The royals blanched at his implication while the Nations just sighed. Alfred unwrapped the Timepiece from its cloth casing and its appearance got several mixed responses, Francis' the most prominent.

"You had it this whole time."

"We did not." Yao said quickly before insults could be exchanged. He then gave the shortest explanation of the last eleven days possible, hesitating when he got to Arthur's confession. Francis' glare increased tenfold as Yao spoke and he seemed to be using every ounce of self-control he had to keep his sword in the sand.

"So _маленький __Артур_ caused the war? Well that was unexpected." Russia said after Yao finished._ (5)_

"Yes, even more reason for him to die." Faster than almost anyone anticipated his sword was at Arthur's throat, blocked only by Yao's counter-maneuver.

"We are not killing him." Yao said, voice steely calm. Francis withdrew.

"And why not? I don't suppose you want him to continue his role as Queen of Spades, his timeless role, I might add. We all know there's only one way out of it."

Yao hesitated, knowing somewhere that he was right. They could not continue working alongside him as queen, but death was so final, so irreversible. Did he really deserve it? Hundreds of thousands of people died in the war, people dropped like flies in just eleven small days, not including the ones lost at sea.

"His fate is for us to determine alone. He is royalty of Spades and as such Spades alone will decide. Regardless, that is not why we called you all here." Alfred threatened anyone to speak against him, acting like the superpower his doppelgänger played.

"Then why did you call us here?" Elisaveta asked, crossing her arms and moving next to Roderich. Alfred looked between Yao and the Timepiece one last time, taking off one of his navy blue gloves.

England saw what he was doing a second before he did it and couldn't say he would have done anything different in that situation. It was something no one wanted to do but needed to be done, which is why he didn't stop Alfred from doing it.

"_Incindio._" He commanded, snapping once with his gaze locked on the clock face. The gold and silver gilded watch erupted into flames. A cacophony of protests all called out in unison as they panicked over the melting source of power of the kingdoms.

"Alfred, what could you possibly be thinking?!" Francis cried, trying to smother the magical flames with his coat but to no effect.

"Are you insane?" Roderich and Elisaveta yelled in unison watching as Francis fruitlessly tried to stop the fire.

The Nations just stared, not uttering one word. A variable had to change to break the deadlock; something had to be put into play to unbalance the playing field. Destroying the prize at the end of the game was one way to do it. One of those, _If I can't have it, no one can,_ type things only more noble in the end.

"There. The Timepiece is no more." Alfred said standing taller than ever before. "We no longer have any reason to fight each other. There's no more reason for more of our people to die. It's over."

"Do you have any idea what you've done you moronic child?!" Francis glared at him with the same ferocity that had been directed at Arthur moments ago. Everyone on the beach gaped at his question.

Alfred didn't even look fazed by his insult. "I just saved us all, _King Francis_. That is more mature than our fighting or petty grudges will ever be." He said icily. "That is all I called you here for. You may leave now."

Alfred turned his back on Francis and prepared to walk away but the King of Diamonds wasn't finished with him yet. The blonde lunged forward and someone cried out a warning, then everyone froze.

Standing between Alfred and Francis was Arthur. And between Arthur and Francis was half of Francis' gleaming iron sword, the other half embedded in Arthur's chest. The blonde coughed and staggered, threatening to fall over before Alfred caught him.

Francis released the hilt of his weapon as he was forced back by Ludwig and Kiku. Alfred dropped to his knees as he held Arthur loosely, leaning him back gently against the already crimson sand.

"A-Arthur?" He asked his sky blue eyes wide as they could go. "Arthur, you're going to be okay, just hold on." Alfred searched the gathered crowd for England and called out to him when he found him. "England! Can you fix him?"

England rushed forward and knelt over his double next to Alfred and examined the wound. Arthur coughed again, a trail of blood escaping his mouth. He weakly waved them off.

"N-no, dammit. D-don't." England knew himself well enough to see acceptance in his doppelgänger's eyes. He wanted to die. He was trying to redeem himself for his sins by protecting his once trusted companion from an early death.

Alfred knew it as well. "Arthur. No. You are not dying today. Not at the hands of Francis."

The Queen of Spades shook his head. "I- I killed J-Jeanne. I-it's only f-fair for the Queen to die by his h-hand." England looked to France who stood watching the whole scene silently. He nodded in grave confirmation. It had happened in this universe as well. America knelt down on his other side, trying to convince himself that this was not his England dying on the beach; this was not his England from so long ago.

"Jeanne? Who's Jeanne?" Alfred asked in a panic, looking to anyone to explain it to him.

"Jeanne was the previous Queen of Diamonds before Lili. She was assassinated in the last war. By Arthur." Yao explained his voice low with understanding. Alfred just shook his head vigorously.

"I don't care! I've known you since I was a little kid, Arthur! You are _not_ dying in my arms." England glanced up at America at the very frightening parallelism. He remembered those exact words all those years ago.

It was in London, 1940, America had come over to see his shipment of relief supplies successfully reach his ally and had found him huddled into a tight ball on the floor of his flat. America had rushed in, dropping everything, and pulled him close, trying to comfort him during the nightly bombings. It had only gotten worse, and would last another six months before it was all over. He had been so worried for his former mentor; England had never faced something so devastating before and America had been nearly powerless to help and would be for another whole year.

He could tell by America's expression that he remembered the same night. There was only one difference between the Arthur then and the Arthur now: One _would_ be dying in Alfred's arms.

Arthur mumbled something barely above a whisper and Alfred leaned down to hear him. Whatever it was he'd said remained a secret only Alfred knew. They watched his chest rise and fall one final time before he stilled and Alfred's resolve crumbled to dust.

The Queen of Spades was dead.

* * *

_"Arthur, I'll deal with you later. Yao, come with me, we still have a war to win." Alfred held the Timepiece under one arm as he marched out of the castle, he could hear Yao's hurried footsteps behind him._

_"What are you planning?" The jack asked, coming up beside him._

_"Sometimes you have to cheat the rules to beat an unbeatable game." Yao slowed at Alfred's cryptic answer._

_"And that means…?" The jack crossed his arms, eyes narrowing._

_Alfred stopped in the middle of the road and turned to him. "Just because the Timepiece has returned does not mean anything. So we regain our advantage, what good does that do us? We win the war, push back Diamonds, and finish off Clubs. Our short alliance with Hearts ends and we go back to hating each other the next day. What's the point?"_

_Alfred stopped his rant and sighed in exasperation. "I think…I think we need to end it. Finally end it all."_

_"Alfred I don't like where this is going." From the sound of it, it looked like Alfred was planning some drastic change in plans that wouldn't benefit anyone._

_"The Timepiece needs to be destroyed."_

_"…What?" Yao's arms dropped to his sides and he stared at the blonde incredulously. "You want…to destroy the whole reason we started this war? The entire basis of our kingdom?"_

_"No, I want to destroy the reason our kingdom exists in the first place. It's the only way that we can finally be at peace."_

_"We're getting our forces decimated in war because it disappeared for _thirteen days_! You want it gone forever?"_

_Alfred ran his hands through his hair, that one strand in the front springing back into place. "As misguided as Arthur was in his execution of his plan, he was right. The only way for us to coexist is if we have nothing to fight over. But it can't be done in secret, we have to show everyone that we are willingly giving up power in favor of peace and hopefully we can reunite the kingdoms someday."_

_"I…" Yao trailed off, unsure of how to respond to that. He was right; the Timepiece was like a drug: You felt like you needed it and dedicated your life to it but in reality it's only slowly killing you from the inside. "What do you want me to do?"_

_Alfred smiled glad he saw it his way. "Just back me up__." _(6)

* * *

"Gilbert I know you can hear me you bastard! Show yourself already, dammit." Alfred was still covered in his queen's blood as he stood in the castle's courtyard yelling the joker's name into the sky. He didn't have the knowledge or power to summon him all on his own so he improvised.

"Shut _up_ kid! You're giving me a headache with all that shouting."

Alfred wheeled on him. "Tell me what he said to you. Tell me why you didn't sell him out. Tell me everything. I don't care what I have to pay for it. Tell me or so help me I _will_ kill you."

Gilbert trained his eyes on Alfred's red-stained coat. "I see…" Gilbert kicked off the tree he'd been leaning against and moved to stand in the sun, his white hair glowing around him like a halo. "He honestly believed he was doing the right thing; that getting rid of the cause of the problem would fix everything. Looks like he was right in the end.

"I didn't sell him out because we made a deal and I always keep my word. I send it away; neither of us turns on the other." Gilbert looked truly sympathetic for Alfred. Arthur wasn't the youngest royal by far; he added drama and had made many a deal with Gilbert in the past. Though the life of a face card was almost guaranteed to end in tragedy, he'd respected the man in his final hours.

"He really believed that?"

Gilbert nodded. "I don't think he considered the consequences when he did it. How did it happen?"

"Francis…attacked me and Arthur used himself as a shield. He died a few moments later in my arms." The joker hesitated mid-step in his casual pacing then continued on. _Of course he would go down like that. Probably refused help from anyone trying to save him too._

"And Francis?"

"He's back home. It…it is-_was_ war after all. People die." From the way Alfred spoke, Gilbert could assume he put up quite a fight against whoever suggested he receive no punishment. Justice is a hypocrite.

"What am I really here for?" The albino asked. For once it wasn't in a joking manner or a means to get under his skin, he genuinely wanted to know.

"The Nations need a way home and I'm not proficient enough with magic to do the spell they need."

"I see…I still need payment for the information you know but consider the spell… 'Buy one get one half-off' as they say." Alfred stopped glowering at the ground and looked up at him, not sure he'd heard him right.

"I apologize for calling you a bastard then."

Gilbert chuckled. "One good deed does not a saint make, King Alfred."

**Footnotes:**

**Holy crap, it's all over. I finally finished! I personally love how it ended, despite offing Arthur. Hey, I did warn you of character death. Hated it? Loved it? All I care about is that my beta gave me a green light for it so at least one person liked it. But don't worry, tomorrow I'll have the short epilogue up to officially end it. Yes tomorrow, I'm already finished with it just doing final touches.**

**1: Hungary and Romania have a war-filled history, usually fighting over Transylvania. There's tons of fan art for it. I personally love the non-existent love rectangle between Prussia, Hungary, Romania, and Austria because they have so much history between them as Nations and as people.**

**2: You guys remember the episodes covering the War of Austrian Succession? Or "Prussia has stolen the vital regions"? Yep. As explained in the episode the only reason England sided with Austria was because it was against France. Then they both realized they didn't need the others to fight each other and he abandoned Austria to death by Gilbird. Politics this, alliances that. Everyone does it, especially us during the Cold War.**

***: This is actually a reference to Desmond in _Lost_, he's a Scottish time-traveling, dimension-crossing, psychic... person. But it totally works with the context too.**

**3: In case you were wondering, the capital city for Spades would be Tampa/St. Petersburg in Florida with the harbor being Tampa Bay.**

**4: The War of 1812. No one won and no one lost. They kind of just gave up on fighting. Well not before Jackson kicked British arse down in New Orleans. As for the clear winner, it's up to your interpretation but like I said, the US has never lost a war. We never officially declared it or officially lost in Korea or Vietnam. Congress was like,"So I'm not allowing a declaration of war _but_ I will allow you to aid them by any means necessary." Our track record will probably never be tarnished because there will be no winners come the next big war- we'll all be dead.**

**5: Again with the Russian translations- supposedly it says "little Arthur" but, ya know, Google Translate.**

**6: Direct episode reference to America taking the leadership role of the Allied Powers in the "Stranded" Arc. This is my third favorite scene too, probably for that line alone but also for the entire premise of this fic. And it's also a big metaphor to real life in case you didn't notice.**

**And finally, to all those Potterheads out there: Totally ****_not_**** the same spell and I didn't spell it wrong. Other books have similar spells that accomplish the same goals. This one happens to be spontaneous combustion (not lighting fireplaces). See you sheeple tomorrow!**


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**A/N: Even as an epilogue, I manage to pass one thousand words for the chapter. I think it's quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself. Well, without further ado here are the final two scenes to _Royal Flush_.**

The empty meeting room in downtown Manhattan once again glowed a brilliant white light and when it was gone ten Nations appeared, back in their original seats.

"Wha-uh, we had a meeting?" America asked. The others were slow to confirm, having forgotten about the entire reason they'd gathered in the first place. Everyone was still in their Cards attire, America and England still had flecks of blood on their azure uniforms.

England pulled out his cell phone and nearly dropped it onto the tabletop when the screen lit up.

"It's 11:33 a.m. February 21st. Like we were never gone."

"I think our appearances are more than enough to challenge that. Look at you and _Amérique_; look at my poor wrists. _Non_, that happened."

England jumped when his phone rang. It was a strange sound to everyone after eleven days of Eighteenth Century technology. "...Hello?"

"Hey, my call finally went through!" He put the phone on speaker and Romania's eccentric voice crackled flatly through the small speakers. "I assume that means you guys made it back okay then." It wasn't a question, more of an observation.

"Yeah dude, we're all back. What's up with the time change?"

"I don't know something to do with the gate and Gilbert's magic. I'm not complaining though 'cause I know the next ten days of history. Off to Monte Carlo!" Romania abruptly hung up and everyone just stared at the phone.

"So...what now?"

"I'm going home." Romano said, dragging Italy out the door. France stood next and bid them goodbye, following the Italies' lead. Soon, everyone left one by one, half hoping to forget the whole experience and half convinced it was a dream.

America, England, and Canada, the only Nations left, didn't make for the door immediately like everyone else.

"It happened Ig. Don't you go telling me it didn't." America talked over whatever the Brit had been about to say, earning a scowl in response.

"As I said when I arrived in this bloody city of yours, I'm going home for some much deserved rest." England too walked through the double doors, pausing in the threshold. "I know it happened." He muttered then disappeared.

* * *

America parked his car in the driveway of his D.C home and grudgingly stepped out. A trio of little kids chose then to ambush him with questions.

"Mr. Alfred! Mr. Alfred!"

He smiled that Hollywood smile at them. "Sup little dudes? How are you today?" The trio lived around the neighborhood and for whatever reason loved Alfred like he was one of them. Couldn't really blame 'em, could you?

"We need a fourth player for a game and no one else can play. They all said they had stuff to do or something." The little blonde boy, Johnny said, pouting. His companions pouted with him, the little demons, and America caved.

"Alright, what's this game called?"

Johnny pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket and spilled its contents into his hand, spreading them out.

"It's a card game called _War."_ He said, big brown eyes looking up at the Nation expectantly before turning back to the deck. America's smile faltered. "Ginny just found the deck actually, she thinks someone dropped it." He stopped filtering through the cards and recounted. "Aww, it's missing one."

America dared to ask, even though he knew the answer. "Which one is that?"

Johnny looked up at him. "The queen of spades. She's not here." No, she isn't. At least the one he knew.

Ginny, the little brunette girl who'd 'found' the deck, stopped Johnny's shuffling. "Hey wait." She said, looking confused. She pulled a single card out of the stacking order and stared at it. "Mr. Alfred this one kinda looks like you." She handed him the card and he flipped it face up.

Emblazoned in the center stood a defiant looking Alfred in his characteristic blue overcoat with the Timepiece, broken and transparent, in the background. America held the card for the king of spades in his hand.

"Hey Johnny, can I see that deck for a sec?" The child nodded and handed it to him. All twelve face cards -minus the missing queen- both jokers, and the four aces were artfully decorated with the likeness of the Nations' duplicates. Johnny then handed him the box. There was one card left inside.

Printed in scrawled calligraphy was a collection of words and phrases, combining to form a familiar spell. And on the bottom, in even smaller print, was a single phrase:

"Thank you."

The end.

**Footnotes:**

**You can play _War_ with as many people as you'd like (like real war), not just one on one. I've played four on four, every-man-for-himself. It's really fun and breaks up the usual monotony of a stalemate.**

**I'm really, actually done this time. Oh my gods thank you so much for following this story from the beginning or any point after! It has been so much freaking fun writing this and I'm sad to see it end. Here's the curtain call:**

**For reading since chapter 1:**

**pastaaddic, Nolesr1 (and for being my beta), johane, and presumably a guest out there who reviewed chapter 1**

**And everyone else who commented, favourited, or followed:**

**whovian732, hufflepuffcanadian, grimyard, autumnkitten25, meapzilla2mouse, amichalap, Shadow fairy princess, Este Savoy, missycanucks, Listenerofshadows, AvelinaTeuton, rioludoodle, Luna55684, ChibiCreep, Lady Rainfall, Ace of Derp, russiaxamerica, **

**I'm debating on how the sequel is going to go and when I decide on what I'm gonna do I'll post an author's note on this story (maybe, you might just have to look for it). After all I do have loose ends to tie and questions to answer :)**

**Oh, and two final footnotes: **

**1: So to all of you who don't know how to play poker or what it is- a "royal flush" is the highest hand one can have consisting of the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of one suit. Nearly impossible to get in a classic game. I thought it appropriate, though apparently unoriginal. Whatever.**

**2: And the title for the sequel will be *initiate drum roll*... "Boneyard". Feel free to Google at will what that could possibly mean from what I've already constructed for this version of the Cardverse AU.**

**Thank you and hasta la pasta!**


	13. Update AN

Totally not a new chapter to anyone who thought this was. Apologies. As said post-epilogue I would notify everyone of the sequel for convenience. So! The first chapter is up (I would have said something in the summary of this one but I'm out of space so faux update will have to do).

Again, sorry for the false hope. Well, kinda false, you do get a new chapter, just not on here.

Also to take away space in the chapter one author's note: I probably will update on a seven-day instead of six-day schedule because unlike last time I don't have as many backup chapters. Don't freak out if I miss a day because I am **not **abandoning this under any circumstances. Worse comes to worst it'll go up for adoption but those are just never the same.

-Hasta la pasta!

P.S. I'm thinking about an actual cover for both of these but I, like, really suck at drawing people. If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

P.P.S. My oneshots feel unloved. I don't think they're _that_ terrible... and there _might_ be a side story for two certain jokers later depending on reception*hint, hint*

P.P.P.S. This note will be taken down in about three days.


End file.
